THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  ILLINOIS 


Return  this  book  on  or  before  the 
Latest  Date  stamped  below. 


University  of  Illinois  Library 


i 


f 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2016  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign  Alternates 


https://archive.org/details/smallpoxpredispoOOboth 


SMALL-POX  : 

THE 

PREDISPOSING  CONDITIONS 


AND  TIIEIR 

PREVENTIVES. 


WITH  A SCIENTIFIC  EXPOSITION  OF 

V A C C I N A T I 0 N. 

By  Dr.  CARL  BOTH. 


SECOND  EDITION. 


BOSTON: 

ALEXANDER  MOORE. 

LEE  & SHEPARD,  Boston  and  New  York. 
TRUBNER  & CO.,  Paternoster  Row,  London. 

i 8 7 2. 

[The  Author  reserves  the  right  of  translation.] 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1872,  by 
Alexander  Moore, 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


STEREOTYPED  BY  JOHN  0.  BEGAN  & OO. 
65  Congress  Street. 


6tV\1l 

B65s£. 


SEINEM 

SLefjrer  utrt)  JFwtmUe, 

pKor.  Dr.  DEHLBB,  in  Wurzburg, 


ALS  EIN  KLEINES  ZEICHEN 

DEE 

fp 

hoohachtung  zugeeignet , 

nr 

> 

VON  DEM 

j> 

VERFASSER, 

D 

Gj 

' 

if) 

fO 

1-7 

co 

TO  HIS 

^eacfjer  anti  Jticnti, 

Pror.  Dr.  DBHLER,  in  Wurzburg, 

THIS  VOLUME  IS  DEDICATED, 

AS  A 

SMALL  TOKEN  OF  ESTEEM , 

BY  THE 


\ Tr 

!— i 

A 


author. 


/ 


* 


■ 


V 


SMALL-POX 


j~)iseases  which  destroy  a great  many 
human  lives,  we  observe,  make  their  appear- 
ance from  time  to  time.  But  the  nature  of  these 
diseases  which  thus  appear  periodically,  seems  to 
be  different  from  others,  and  they  have  been 
thought  to  have  their  origin  in  climatical  influ- 
ences. That  particular  individuals  feel  more  or 
less  affected  by  certain  climates  or  atmospheres, 
while  others  do  not,  there  can  be  no  doubt.  But 
while  we  admit  that  peculiar  changes  in  the 
atmosphere  occur,  which  must  have  their  certain 
effect,  we  do  not  admit  that  such  changes  could 
affect  one  person  and  not  another.  Nature  is 
very  exact,  and  mathematically  precise  in  carry- 
ing on  her  work.  Her  laws  are  invariable  and 
absolute,  logical  and  consequent  in  their  opera- 

(5) 


6 


SMALL— POX. 


tions,  and  admit  of  no  exceptions  whatever. 
Therefore,  if  we  believe  we  have  discovered  one 
of  the  facts  of  nature,  our  first  duty  is  to  see 
whether  it  is  always  unfailing  in  its  effect  or  appli- 
cation ; for  if  it  is  not  thus  unfailing,  we  put  it 
down,  not  as  a law  or  fact  of  nature,  but  as  a 
human  mistake.  Therefore,  if  there  exists  any- 
thing in  the  atmosphere  which  is  capable  of 
injuring  any  one  person’s  health,  it  must,  from 
the  very  law  of  necessity,  be  general  in  its  effects, 
so  far  as  all  who  breathe  it  under  the  same  con- 
ditions are  concerned;  that  is,  if  it  injure  one, 
all  must  feel  its  effects,  as  they  would  the  effects 
of  a strong  wind,  of  heat,  or  of  cold,  or  as  they 
would  the  effect  of  arsenic,  or  carbonic  acid 
inhaled,  or  an  electrical  shock,  fire,  water,  etc. 
For  example,  if  a certain  number  of  persons  take 
arsenic,  or  inhale  carbonic  acid  gas,  etc.,  under 
the  same  condition,  all  will  be  alike  injured  ; not 
one  can  escape.  Hence,  if  we  observe  that  only 
a portion,  perhaps  a third,  or  even  much  less,  of 
a given  population  becomes  seriously  affected, 
while  all  the  rest  are  entirely  free  or  exempt,  then 
we  must  logically  conclude  that  there  was  some- 
thing different  in  the  organism  of  those  affected, 


SMALL-POX. 


7 


from  those  who  were  exempt;  in  other  words, 
that  the  reason  or  cause  of  their  being  affected  is 
to  be  found  in  themselves , and  not  in  the  atmos- 
phere alone.  In  all  epidemics,  such  as  cholera, 
small-pox,  yellow  fever,  typhus,  etc.,  we  find  it 
generally  admitted  that  the  affected  persons  have 
shown  a previously  existing  predisposition  or  sus- 
ceptibility to  it;  that  is,  they  were  so  constituted 
in  their  organization  as  to  be  liable  to  it,  while 
those  who  continued  in  health  were  so  constituted 
as  to  escape  uninjured.  Therefore,  it  is  a matter 
of  no  consequence  to  us  here,  whether  minute 
spores  float  in  the  atmosphere,  carrying  the  germ 
of  these  diseases,  or  whether  gases  escape  from 
the  earth,  or  from  diseased  persons ; or  whether 
electrical  currents,  or  uneven  pressure  of  the 
atmosphere,  or  whatever  may  be  thought  to  be 
the  infecting  agent ; we  have  to  do  only  with  the 
predisposition  or  susceptibility  necessary  in  order 
to  be  infected.  If  we  can  avoid  this  ^predisposi- 
tion^ we  need  have  no  fear  about  the  atmosphere, 
or  other  supposed  infecting  agents  ; we  are  invul- 
nerable. This  we  lay  down  as  a general  rule ; 
but  our  present  purpose  and  object  in  particular 


8 


SMALL-POX. 


is,  to  ascertain  how  the  predisposition  to  Small- 
pox may  be  escaped. 

Small-pox  is  an  epidemic  which  is  very  old, 
extending  back  into  the  past  as  far  as  the  records 
of  history,  but  in  no  century  has  it  ever  been 
known  to  be  worse,  or  more  fatal,  than  in  the 
seventeenth,  after  the  thirty  years’  war  in  Europe  ; 
there  seemed  to  be  no  stopping  its  ravages.  In 
the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  an  Eng- 
lish lady  learned  that  the  Asiatic  tribes  inoculated 
themselves  with  Small-pox  virus  with  a ' view  to 
escape  the  disfiguring  of  their  faces  from  pitting  ; 
and  the  inoculation  with  Small-pox  virus  soon 
became  inaugurated  in  Britain.  But  the  con- 
sequences resulting  from  it  were  of  such  a char- 
acter, that  it  soon  came  to  be  considered  as  a 
dangerous  proceeding.  In  the  latter  part  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  Jenner  introduced  vaccination, 
substituting  cow-pox  lymph  for  human  Small-pox 
lymph.  Since  that  time,  which  is  nearly  one 
hundred  years,  vaccination  has  been  the  only 
preventive  known,  and  has  been  most  thoroughly 
employed.  But  notwithstanding,  Small-pox  makes 
its  appearance,  and  at  the  present  time  is  very 
severe  both  in  Europe  and  in  parts  of  this  country. 


SMALL-POX. 


9 


It  has  been  admitted  by  the  warmest  advocates  of 
vaccination,  that  it  is  not  unfailing , but  is  consid- 
ered a means  by  which  the  party  vaccinated  is  made 
less  liable  to  Small-pox.  It  must  therefore  be 
admitted  that  something  more  certain  and  sure  in 
its  effects  can  be  considered,  and  that  an  improve- 
ment as  regards  security  against  Small-pox  is  not 
unseasonable,  or  out  of  place. 

It  is  no  part  of  our  present  purpose  to  repeat, 
or  to  criticise  the  various  views  which  are  held  in 
regard  to  Small-pox.  Whether  it  is  born  with  a 
child,  or  caught  from  the  atmosphere,  or  from 
contagion,  or  from  spores,  is  a matter  of  compar- 
ative indifference.  The  fact  is,  that  it  is  a verv 
disagreeable  affection,  and  everybody  is  interested 
in  avoiding  it. 

But  what  is  Small  fox?  It  must  be  admitted 
by  all,  that  Small-pox  consists  in  an  escape  or 
exudation  of  something  into  the  skin  which  causes 
it  to  swell,  and  by  a process  of  putrefaction  de- 
stroys it,  and  not  unfrequently  carries  off  the 
patient.  This  mass,  which  is  thus  exuded  or 
thrown  off  into  the  skin,  must  necessarily  come 
from  the  blood  ; therefore  it  must  be  something  in 
the  blood  which  is  abnormal,  sickly,  or  bad,  or 


IO 


SMALL-POX. 


there  must  be  something  which  has  deranged  the 
whole  system  to  such  a degree  that  the  blood,  as 
a consequent,  is  disturbed  in  an  exceedingly  pe- 
culiar way.  But  if  we  would  intelligently  in- 
vestigate this  something , we  must  understand  how 
the  blood  is  constituted,  and  learn  which  substance 
can  be  the  offending  one,  or  what  other  parts  of 
the  body  have  disturbed  the  blood-circulation  so 
as  to  bring  about  Small-pox. 

Were  we  to  analyze  the  blood,  we  should  find 
it  to  consist  of  three  principal  parts,  namely : 
water,  albuminous  combinations,  and  mineral  sub- 
stances called  blood  salts.  But  since  it  is  not 
possible  that  the  blood  serum  or  watery  part  of 
the  blood  can  be  the  offending  element,  it  must 
be  found  in  the  albuminous  combinations,  or  in 
the  blood  salts.  Before  we  proceed  to  investigate 
this  particular  point,  however,  it  is  necessary  for 
us  to  understand  what  these  several  parts  are 
for ; that  is,  their  use,  their  office.  Water  in  the 
blood  performs  the  office  of  a solvent  only , and 
does  not  of  itself  undergo  any  decomposition.  The 
water  which  we  drink  having  performed  its  office 
in  the  body,  leaves  it  again,  without  change,  as 
water.  The  albuminous  portion  of  the  blood  we 


SMALL-POX. 


II 


find  partly  organized,  as  blood-globules,  which 
act  as  the  chemical  machinery  in  the  blood,  and 
partly  not  organized,  as  fibrin  and  albumen,  etc. 
These  two  again  are  distinguished  by  their  con- 
sistency— fibrin,  under  ordinary  circumstances, 
being  confined  within  the  blood-vessels,  while 
albumen  is  not;  but  is  that  substance  which 
penetrates  the  vessels,  and  nourishes  all  their  tis- 
sues. Albumen  is  that  substance  which  is  the 
most  prominent  for  life,  and  undergoes  the  greatest 
changes  in  the  body.  The  more  of  it  we  have  in 
our  blood,  the  richer  it  is  for  nutrition  ; but  it  will 
not  be  difficult  to  comprehend  that  there  is  a limit 
or  bound  to  its  usefulness,  just  as  there  is  to  the 
usefulness  of  fertilizers  in  their  application  to  the 
soil.  Every  farmer  and  gardener  knows  that 
without  the  use  of  fertilizers  of  some  kind,  they 
can  raise  nothing ; and  they  know  equally  well, 
that  if  they  apply  the  fertilizers  in  excess,  the 
result  will  be  the  ruin  of  their  crop.  Excess, 
therefore,  as  far  as  the  result  is  concerned,  is  just 
as  bad  as  its  opposite  — a deficiency.  There 
must  be  a certain  relative  proportion  of  things 
everywhere,  in  order  to  secure  a given  result; 
and  this  is  as  true  in  reference  to  the  blood,  as  to 


12 


SMALL— POX. 


anything  else.  Nature,  therefore,  must  have  in- 
stituted within  us  a check  or  means  by  which  to 
regulate  the  amount  of  albumen  in  the  blood,  as 
otherwise  it  might  get  so  thick  as  to  prevent  it 
from  flowing  at  all.  This  check  is  the  blood  salts 
generally , but  common  table  salt  especially . 

The  salt  we  eat  leaves  our  body  again  as  salt, 
without  undergoing  any  change  whatever;  but 
while  in  the  body,  performs  the  office  of  keeping 
the  albumen  in  proper  balance.  Hence,  from 
this  physiological  fact,  it  becomes  evident  that,  if 
salt  is  wanting,  albumen  will  be  found  in  excess ; 
and  if  salt  preponderates,  or  is  in  excess,  albumen 
is  deficient,  or  in  demand  ; both  cannot  be  in  excess 
at  the  same  time.  It  is  equally  evident  that  the 
blood  of  a healthy  person  must  contain  the  rel- 
ative proportions  of  water,  albumen  and  salts, 
necessary  to  constitute  normal  or  healthy  blood, 
and  that  any  variations  from  this  formula  of  nature 
is  abnormal,  and  must  sooner  or  later,  if  the  cor- 
rect balance  is  not  very  soon  reestablished,  result 
in  the  development  of  some  disorder  as  the  con- 
sequence. As  this  cannot  be  denied  by  any  in- 
telligent person,  we  shall  pursue  our  investigations 
regarding  the  consequences  to  the  human  economy 


SMALL-POX. 


13 


growing  out  of  those  conditions  which  arise  from 
an  excess  or  deficiency  of  albumen,  or  of  salt,  in 
the  blood. 

It  will,  however,  first  be  necessary  to  make  the 
reader  somewhat  acquainted  with  another  portion 
of  the  machinery  of  our  body  — the  nerves.  We 
all  know  that  we  have  nerves  by  which  our  mo- 
tions are  controlled,  and  nerves  of  sensation  by 
which  we  feel.  Both  these  originate,  and  have 
their  seat  in  the  brain.  But  we  know  that  our 
heart  beats  without  our  will,  and  so  do  our  intes- 
tines move,  and  so  we  must  breathe,  and  so  do 
we  digest  our  food. 

The  system  of  nerves  that  controls  or  presides 
over  these  particular  departments  of  operations 
within  the  body,  is  called  the  sympathic.  It  does 
not  originate  in  the  brain,  but  has  its  principal 
centres  in  the  abdominal  cavity,  at  the  sides  and 
in  front  of  the  spinal  column,  and  is  that  nerve 
by  whose  power  we  live.  This  nerve  is  as  sus- 
ceptible or  liable  to  injury  as  any  other,  but  being 
entirely  without  the  power  of  sensation,  gives  no 
pain.  When  this  nerve  has  been  injured  for  a 
length  of  time,  it  gives  notice  either  by  means  of 
its  connection  with  other  nerves,  or  its  proper 


SMALL-POX. 


work  is  arrested  at  some  point  for  a time,  or  it 
works  too  much.  For  instance,  if  we  abuse  our 
stomachs  for  years  by  the  use  of  strong  stimulants, 
or  high  living,  wines,  etc.,  this  nerve,  being  in- 
sulted at  the  stomach,  will  relax  in  the  joints  of 
the  toes,  and  produce  what  is  called  gout,  show- 
ing no  relaxation  in  the  stomach,  for  should  it  do 
so,  the  person  would  die.  Or  it  relaxes  in  the 
skin  generally,  and  produces  that  condition 
known  as  measles,  or  scarlet  fever,  or  chicken- 
pox,  or  small-pox,  or  if  it  affects  more  the  lining 
membranes  of  the  internal  canals,  scurvy,  or 
typhus  fever,  cholera,  and  the  like.  The  differ- 
ence between  these  disorders  is  partly  owing  to 
the  different  degrees  of  pressure  which  the  force 
of  the  heart  exerts  upon  the  body,  or  to  the 
chemical  difference  of  the  blood  constituents,  or 
only  to  the  seat  or  particular  point  of  difficulty, 
or  to  the  more  or  less  severe  injury  to  the  nerve 
itself.  The  nerve  may  act  in  consequence  of  too 
much  irritation,  so  as  to  contract  the  finest  capil- 
lary blood-vessels  to  a degree  which  admits  of  no 
circulation,  producing  complete  stoppage,  or,  in 
consequence  of  loss  of  power,  it  can  relax  the 
walls  of  the  vessels  to  such  an  extent  as  to  let  the 


SMALL-POX. 


15 


blood  run  directly  through  them.  Having  thus 
given  a general  idea  of  the  office  of  this  nerve, 
we  shall  now  show  the  reason  for  its  abnormal 
action  under  certain  conditions. 

Suppose  we  eat  meat  (which  contains  a great 
amount  of  albumen),  and,  at  the  same  time,  too 
much  salt.  The  almost  immediate  consequence 
will  be  that  we  become  very  thirsty,  the  body 
requires  as  much  more  water  as  is  necessary  to 
throw  out  all  the  salt  in  excess  of  what  was 
required.  This  we  all  know  ; but  if  the  same  ex- 
periment is  repeated  again  and  again,  we  shall 
find  that  sickness  is  the  result ; the  blood  becomes 
very  poor  and  thin,  and  will  no  longer  coagulate, 
and,  of  course,  cannot  sufficiently  nourish  the 
body,  which,  in  consequence,  becomes  weak,  and 
the  sympathic  nerve  finally  relaxes  so  much  that 
the  blood  runs  directly  through  the  blood-vessels. 
This  condition  is  well  known  under  the  name  of 
scurvy. 

A similar  process,  however,  will  occur,  when- 
ever from  any  cause  there  is  a manifest  lack  or 
deficiency  of  albumen.  For  example,  typhus 
fever,  which,  in  its  origin,  is  caused  by  an  excess  of 
albuminous  matter,  is  often  followed  by  bleeding, 


i6 


SMALL-POX. 


as  in  scurvy.  In  this  case,  the  fever  reduces  the 
albumen  to  such  an  extent,  that  the  nerve  relaxes 
so  as  to  permit  the  blood  to  run  through  the  blood- 
vessels ; and  the  same  can  occur  after  Small-pox, 
but  only  when  the  process  of  recovery  is  very 
slow  and  unfavorable.  It  also  sometimes  occurs 
in  cases  of  alcohol  poisoning  of  long  duration. 
A more  severe  and  profuse  bleeding  is  occasion- 
ally observed  in  cholera  and  yellow  fever,  in  con- 
sequence of  spasmodic  contraction  of  this  nerve. 

But  suppose  we  reverse  the  case,  and  eat  meat, 
and  too  little  salt ; what  then  will  be  the  conse- 
quences? From  what  we  have  already  learned, 
the  answer  can  be  very  readily  given ; there  will 
be  an  accumulation  of  albuminous  matter  in  the 
blood,  which  makes  it  too  thick  to  answer 
its  designed  purposes  under  all  circumstances. 
Therefore,  upon  the  occurrence  of  some  unusual 
excitement,  under  which  the  action  of  the  heart 
necessarily  becomes  accelerated,  the  pulsations 
or  beats  following  each  other  more  and  more 
rapidly,  this  blood,  which  is  too  thick,  would  in 
some  way  have  to  get  rid  of  a part  of  the  albu- 
men, as  otherwise  it  could  not  flow  with  sufficient 
rapidity,  and  under  the  circumstances  would 


SMALL-POX. 


17 


produce  pneumonia,  or  similar  disorders,  by 
throwing  this  superfluous  albumen  into  the  lungs. 
Or  the  occurrence  of  an  extraordinary  nervous 
irritation  could  cause  a spasmodic  contraction  of 
the  peripheric  portion  of  the  nerve,  and  thus 
obstruct  the  free  circulation  in  the  skin,  producing 
a sensation  of  dull  headache  from  blood  pressure  ; 
then  the  nerve,  by  suddenly  relaxing,  would  allow 
the  blood  to  rush  into  the  now  powerless  vessels, 
extending  them  to  the  utmost,  until  they  would 
either  burst,  or  remain  in  this  overfilled  and  ex- 
tended condition.  This  would  be  the  state  which 
we  observe  in  the  beginning  or  earliest  stage  of 
Small-pox.  The  exuded  or  escaped  mass  con- 
sequent upon  the  rupture  of  the  blood-vessels 
then  begins  to  putrefy,  destroys  the  surrounding 
tissues,  and  finally  heals  by  drying  up,  leaving 
the  skin  in  a more  or  less  mutilated  condition ; 
or  the  patient  dies  from  general  blood  poisoning, 
or  from  exhaustion  in  consequence  of  the  total 
absence  of  a reestablished  digestion.  In  short, 
we  wish  to  be  understood  as  saying  that  the  'pre- 
disposition to  Small-pox  consists  in  an  undue 
proportion  of  albuminous  matter  to  the  blood-salts, 
and  that  as  the  result,  an  otherwise  inoffensive 


i8 


SMALL-POX. 


nervous  irritation  becomes  sufficient  to  cause  the 
blood  to  part  with  this  superfluous  albumen,  which 
in  this  case  is  thrown  into  the  skin,  and  constitutes 
that  condition  which  is  commonly  called  Small- 
pox. And  we  further  maintain,  that  a person 
who  does  not  exhibit  this  superabundance  of 
albuminous  matter  in  his  blood  is  not  liable  to 
Small-pox  under  any  circumstances  of  exposure, 
or  contact  with  patients  suffering  from  this  dis- 
order. 

In  support  of  this  theory,  which,  if  correct, 
gives  us  at  once  the  absolute  control  of  this 
dreaded  disease,  we  give  a few  illustrations.  It 
is  well  known  that  Small-pox  is  a common  disease 
among  the  Asiatic  tribes,  who  first  made  use  of 
inoculation  as  a preventive.  If  we  consider  their 
mode  of  life,  we  shall  observe  that  they  live  to  a 
great  extent  on  starch  and  sugar ; that  is,  upon 
food  which  largely  contains  starch  and  sugar, 
and  that  salt  is  not  regularly  used  by  them  in 
connection  with  their  food,  or  otherwise,  either  in 
its  own  form,  or  in  salt  fish,  or  meat;  and  their 
soft,  fatty,  and  puffy  appearance  at  once  indicates 
a preponderance  of  fat  and  albumen.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  disease  is  never  found  among 


SMALL— POX. 


x9 


such  races  as  live  on  salt  fish,  or  who  use  salt 
generally.  It  was  unknown  among  the  American 
Indians  previous  to  the  coming  of  the  white  man, 
but  as  soon  as  he  came,  and  began  to  have  deal- 
ings with  them,  they  were  destroyed  by  Small-pox 
in  masses.  Why?  Had  the  climate  undergone 
a sudden  change,  or  some  deadly  thing  floating 
in  a current  of  the  atmosphere  descended  upon 
them,  or  had  the  white  man  brought  it  from  over 
the  sea  in  his  person,  ships,  or  merchandise? 
The  Indians  sold  their  furs,  and  other  articles  of 
trade,  in  exchange  for  fire-water ; and  alcohol,  as 
we  shall  hereafter  learn,  has  the  property  or 
power  of  freeing  the  blood  of  its  salt.  The  In- 
dians, in  connection  with  their  natural  food  (wild 
game,  fish,  roots,  etc.),  received  into  their  systems 
a sufficient  quantity  of  salt ; but  when  their  blood- 
salts  were  thrown  out  by  the  use  of  alcoholic 
drinks,  causing  a relative  preponderance  of  albu- 
minous matter  in  the  blood,  they  at  once  became 
predisposed  to  Small-pox,  and  fell  victims  to  its 
ravages.  The  Western  hunter  or  trapper  would 
rather  part  with  his  powder  than  his  salt,  because 
he  well  knows  that  without  salt  he  will  very  soon  be 
able  to  do  nothing,  from  loss  of  vigor  or  power. 


20 


SMALL-POX. 


He  will  sell,  or  sometimes  give,  the  Indian  all 
the  liquor  he  wants,  or  even  powder,  but  will 
never  part  with  his  salt,  and  the  more  especially 
as  the  Indian  certainly  cares  little  or  nothing 
about  it. 

We  find  Small-pox  a regular  visitant  wherever, 
from  any  cause,  salt  has  become  scarce.  After 
all  the  long  wars  in  Europe,  when,  from  the  pres- 
sure of  what  was  regarded  as  more  important 
business,  the  salt  mines  were  unworked  or  neg- 
lected, it  has  invariably  made  its  appearance. 
The  same  is  true  in  reference  to  all  besieged 
cities  after  that  salt  became  scarce  ; examples  of 
which,  we  have  in  the  sieges  of  Metz  and  Paris, 
during  the  late  Franco-Prussian  war.  When 
food  became  scanty,  a hungry  person  would  eat 
almost  anything,  and  salt  is  about  the  last  thing 
for  which  he  would  ask,  especially  when  scarce 
and  expensive.  And,  besides,  when  a person 
eats  salt  he  becomes  hungry  much  sooner  than 
without  it,  and  consequently,  when  food  is  very 
scarce,  will  neglect  its  use,  instead  of  procuring 
it ; and  for  the  same  reason  salt  is  in  very  limited 
use  in  poor  countries,  and  among  the  very  poor. 
The  Prussian  army  had  no  Small-pox  during  the 


SMALL-POX. 


21 


late  war  — and  why?  they  were  well  provided 
with  pea-sausages,  which  contained  not  only  salt, 
but  all  the  necessary  ingredients  the  human  body 
requires  for  health  and  vigor.  It  will  invariably 
be  found,  upon  investigation,  that  the  ravages  of 
Small-pox  are  principally  confined  to  those  cities, 
countries,  or  particular  localities  where  the  popu- 
lation is  over-crowded,  or  dwells  in  close,  unven- 
tilated  tenements,  with  habits  and  surroundings 
of  which,  to  say  the  least,  are  bad,  living  for  the 
most  part  in  the  use  of  alcohol,  with  little  or  no 
salt,  and  upon  food  which  does  not  contain  the 
requisite  elements  for  constituting  the  best  blood. 
And  if  this  investigation  is  still  further  pursued, 
the  reverse  of  this  will  be  found  true : namely, 
that  that  city,  or  part  of  a city,  the  population  of 
which  is  composed  of  what  is  usually  termed  the 
better  or  upper  classes,  whose  dwellings,  sur- 
roundings, habits  of  life,  and  diet,  are  what  they 
should  be,  in  connection  with  the  use  of  a suffi- 
cient quantity  of  salt,  invariably  and  absolutely 
escape  this  disease. 

For  an  illustration  of  the  truth  of  this  statement, 
let  us,  for  example,  take  Boston.  Disfigured  faces 
from  the  pitting  of  Small-pox  are  very  rarely  seen 


22 


SMALL-POX. 


among  the  native  population,  or  better  classes ; 
while  they  are  very  numerous  among  the  foreign 
population,  and  the  very  poor.  Small-pox  has 
frequently  Visited  towns  and  cities  in  the  vicinity 
of  Boston  — Lowell,  for  instance — without  affect- 
ing Boston  in  the  slightest  degree.  And  whenever 
it  has  made  its  appearance  here,  it  has,  as  already 
intimated,  been  confined  to  particular  localities  and 
populations.  The  reason  for  this  comparative 
freedom  from  Small-pox  in  Boston  is  very  simple. 
In  no  city  in  the  world  is  there  so  much  salt  used, 
in  proportion  to  the  number  of  inhabitants,  as  here. 
It  would  be  difficult  to  find  a table  where  salt  was 
not  placed  before  each  person,  and  at  almost  every 
meal,  with  the  exception,  perhaps,  of  tea.  Fish- 
balls  (made  from  salt  fish)  are  also  here  a regular 
dish.  Foreigners  coming  to  Boston  almost  inva- 
riably live  better  than  they  did  at  home  ; and  while 
they  live  principally  upon  meat  and  potatoes,  with 
considerable  fat,  they  never  think  of  adding  any 
more  salt  than  they  have  previously  been  in  the 
habit  of  using,  though  probably  consume  eight 
times  the  amount  of  albumen  they  were  accus- 
tomed to  when  at  home  ; thus  producing  an  excess 
of  albumen  in  the  blood  — the  'predisposition 


SMALL-POX. 


23 


to  Small-pox.  If  any  person  wishes  to  get  an 
idea  of  how  much  salt  they  should  use  under  cer- 
tain circumstances,  let  them  take  a baked  potato, 
and  add  as  much  salt  as  the  taste  will  admit 
of  without  being  unpleasant,  or  as  much  as  the 
taste  will  bear,  and  they  will  be  surprised  at  the 
amount  required,  provided  they  have  used  no 
sugar  for  some  time  previous.  It  will,  however, 
be  found,  that  very  many  persons  have  a strong 
prejudice  against  salt.  They  have  come  to  believe 
that  a free  use  of  it  is  hurtful,  and  therefore  avoid 
it  as  much  as  possible,  For  example,  it  is  quite 
commonly  believed  among  the  peasantry  of 
Europe,  that  the  use  of  salt  makes  the  bones 
brittle,  and,  consequently,  very  little  is  used  by 
them.  And  then  again,  a poor  man,  when  hungry, 
cares  next  to  nothing  for  salt,  but  will  eat  what- 
ever is  set  before  him,  without  regard  to  the  flavor. 
It  should  also  be  borne  in  mind,  that  those  lands 
which  are  cultivated  by  the  poor,  are,  as  a gen- 
eral thing,  very  badly  fertilized,  and,  conse- 
quently, that  all  the  cereals,  vegetables,  etc.,  thus 
produced,  and  used  or  employed  as  food,  are  de- 
ficient in  salts,  and  that  the  same  is  equally  true 
in  reference  to  the  various  animals,  of  which 


24 


SMALL-POX. 


either  the  milk  or  the  flesh  is  used  as  food,  when 
kept  or  confined  in  close  stables,  yards,  or  en- 
closed pastures,  having  no  freedom  to  procure 
their  own  food,  or  a free  access  to  salt.  Another 
very  important  fact  which  bears  upon  this  subject 
is,  that  there  are  substances  in  use  which  have 
been  introduced  by  civilization,  that  either  have 
the  property  or  power  of  expelling  the  salt  from 
the  blood,  or  of  becoming  a substitute  for  it,  as 
to  taste.  The  most  prominent  of  these  is  alcohol 
among  the  former,  and  sugar  among  the  latter. 
With  a deficiency  of  salt  in  the  blood,  arising 
from  these  several  sources  (a  neglect  of  its  use 
from  whatever  cause,  cereals,  vegetables,  flesh- 
meat,  etc. , used  as  food,  which  have  been  produced 
under  bad  culture  or  conditions,  the  use  of  al- 
cohol, etc.,  by  which  the  salt  is  expelled,  and  the 
substitution  of  sugar  and  other  substances  by 
which  the  taste  is  satisfied),  we  find  that  on  the 
continent  of  Europe,  whenever  and  wherever 
there  has  been  an  occasion  of  great  excitement, 
like  war,  for  example,  which  has  inpoverished  the 
people  so  as  to  cut  off  the  ordinary  supply  of 
food,  Small-pox  has  invariably  appeared. 

We  have  already  spoken  of  the  American 


SMALL-POX. 


23 

Indians  dying  of  Small-pox  as  soon  as  alcohol 
became  master  of  them.  A person,  after  being 
intoxicated  with  alcohol,  will  have  a decided 
craving  for  salt,  or  saltish  food,  as  any  one  can 
see  who  will  take  the  necessary  trouble  to  make 
the  observation.  It  is  on  this  account  that  salt 
fish  is  to  be  found  in  almost  every  bar-room. 
Without  the  daily  use  of  salt,  the  toper  becomes 
more  or  less  bloated  in  appearance,  and  is  not 
only  an  easy  prey  to  Small-pox,  when  exposed, 
but  is  in  that  condition  under  which  Small-jpox 
can  originate  in  him  at  any  time . Therefore 
we  find  Small-pox  among  races  or  nations  that 
use  alcohol  freely,  and  at  the  same  time  do  not 
use  much  salt.  The  poor  people  of  some  coun- 
tries live  principally  upon  potatoes  and  pork,  and 
use  liquor  freely.  The  pork,  and  the  few  cereals 
and  other  vegetables  used  by  them  for  food  in 
addition  to  the  potato,  having  been  produced  or 
raised  on  soil  badly  fertilized,  or  under  unfavor- 
able conditions,  contain  little  or  no  salt  whatever, 
while  the  free  use  of  alcohol  throws  out,  or  ex- 
pels, what  little  the  body  may  have  gained  from 
other  sources ; and  consequently  communities, 
races,  or  nations  who  live  in  this  way  are  always 


26 


SMALL-POX. 


subject  to  Small-pox ; among  such  it  makes  its 
greatest  ravages.  The  fact  that  alcohol  expels, 
or  throws  out,  the  blood-salts,  can  be  easily  tested 
by  an  examination  of  the  urine  of  a person  when 
perfectly  sober,  and  when  intoxicated ; the  dif- 
ference of  the  saline  residuum  will  be  seen  im- 
mediately. 

Among  the  Haytiens,  especially  among  the 
children,  Small-pox  is  one  of  the  most  common 
disorders.  The  principal  food  of  the  people 
consists  of  yams,  rice,  bananas,  and  white  bread, 
with  a free  use  of  rum ; the  delicacies  are  salt 
fish  or  salt  pork,  from  New  England.  Neither 
yams,  rice,  nor  white  bread  contains  salt,  and 
the  rum  they  drink  expels  what  they  get  from  the 
salt  fish  and  pork  they  use ; but  of  these  latter 
their  children  get  very  little,  if  any.  Salt  fish 
and  meat  are  dear  in  Hayti,  and  the  lazy  Haytien 
cares  little  to  supply  salt  fish  for  his  children 
when  they  have  plenty  of  bananas,  rice,  and. 
fruits  to  live  upon.  We  venture  to  say  that  were 
the  importation  of  salted  food  wholly  stopped, 
the  Haytien  population  would  die  out  in  a few 
years,  of  Small-pox  and  kindred  diseases. 

By  the  use  of  alcohol  the  blood-salts  are  ex- 


SMALL-POX. 


27 


pelled ; but  by  the  use  of  sugar  the  demand  for 
salt  is  not  felt.  - Every  one  knows  that  by  flavor- 
ing starch-pudding  or  rice  with  sugar,  no  salt  is 
required,  and  that  by  flavoring  it  with  salt,  no 
sugar  is  required : it  is  equally  palatable,  and 
the  taste  is  satisfied.  And  even  in  the  blood  it- 
self sugar  can  take  the  place  of  salt  for  a time, 
but  not  permanently.  It  will  be  found  that  all 
who  use  much  sugar  do  not  care  for  salt ; and 
that  when  sugar  is  employed  where  salt  should 
be  used,  the  taste  does  not  indicate  the  error. 
Still,  sugar  cannot  replace  salt  in  the  body,  and 
its  excessive  use  renders  the  body  liable  to  an 
excess  of  albumen  and  fat,  and  produces  the 
same  external  appearance  as  alcohol,  though  not 
so  soon.  It  will  also  be  found  that  almost  every 
person  who  dislikes  salt,  or  saline  food,  uses  sugar 
in  excess.  A moderate  use  of  sugar  is  well 
enough,  as  long  as  we  supply  the  necessary 
amount  of  salt ; but  if  we  exclude  the  salt  by  an 
excessive  use  of  sugar,  we  thereby  render  the 
body  liable  to  infection  from  Small-pox.  It  can 
be  noticed  that  children,  if  left  to  themselves, 
often  eat  salt  by  the  spoonful ; which,  if  they  are 
prevented  from  eating  freely,  tastes  to  them  as 


28 


SMALL— POX. 


sweet  as  sugar.  Many  parents  forbid  the  free 
use  of  salt,  and  feed  their  children  on  milk  and 
starchy  food,  flavored  with  sugar.  What  we 
wish  principally  to  show  just  here  is,  that  by  art 
we  substitute  substances  for  those  which  are 
required  by  nature,  or,  to  a great  extent,  defy 
her  demands,  and  thereby  render  our  bodies 
liable  to  diseases  which  otherwise  would  be  un- 
known. Neither  animals  nor  man  know  any- 
thing of  Small-pox  in  their  natural  state ; but 
cows  which  are  kept  in  close  stables,  and  sheep, 
if  prevented  from  eating  salt,  show  it.  We 
therefore  positively  maintain  that  Small-pox  is 
not  a disease  of  nature,  but  a consequence  of 
some  mistake  of  civilization,  which,  in  part,  con- 
sists in  a deficient  use  of  salt,  or  in  an  excessive 
use  of  such  articles  of  food  as  either  expel  salt 
from  the  blood,  or,  for  the  time,  substitute  the 
demand  for  it. 

It  is  not  necessary,  however,  that  a person 
who  has  an  undue  proportion  of  albuminous  matter 
in  his  blood  must,  as  a rule,  get  Small-pox ; but 
according  to  circumstances,  he  may  be  affected 
in  some  other  part  of  the  body  instead  of  the  skin  ; 
for  example,  if  in  his  joints,  the  condition  is  called 


SMALL-POX. 


29 


acute  rheumatism  of  the  joints  — a very  dangerous 
disorder  for  life ; or  if  his  intestines  become  af- 
fected, the  condition  is  called  "typhus.”  There 
are  several  reasons  why  similar  derangements  in 
the  blood  will  affect  various  places,  at  different 
times.  Albuminous  compositions  in  the  blood  are 
very  changeable,  and  vary  very  much,  as  to 
whether  such  substance  is  readily  or  newly 
formed,  or  whether  it  has  finished  its  purpose,  and 
is  only  left  as  residuum,  or  so-called  blood  cin- 
ders, which  have  not  been  readily  and  properly 
expelled.  Another  reason  is,  the  constitutional 
difference  and  habits  of  individuals  are  such,  that 
certain  nervous  centres  in  one  are  weaker  than 
in  others,  and  naturally  the  parts  which  are  con- 
trolled by  the  weakest  nerves,  will  be  the  ones 
soonest  affected. 

The  last  reason  we  shall  here  adduce  is,  that 
for  all  transformations  and  new  formations  there 
exists  a certain  and  unchangeable  law  of  nature, 
which  we  shortly  quote  from  a paper  "On  Cells 
and  their  Life,”  published  in  Good  Health , Dec. 
1869,  and  which  all  should  most  fully  compre- 
hend. 


30 


SMALL-POX. 


"All  the  various  forms  of  matter  which  exist,  have 
certain  qualities,  which  may  be  divided  into  active 
and  passive ; oxygen  being  the  most  active,  and 
carbon  the  most  passive,  of  them  all.  Oxygen, 
therefore,  has  the  strongest  affinity  for  carbon,  and 
its  combinations  are  the  most  intimate  and  difficult 
of  decomposition  of any  yet  known . Certain  forms 
of  matter  of  a generally  passive  character,  under 
favorable  circumstances,  possess  the  quality  essen- 
tial to  the  formation  of  crystals.  And  it  is  a re- 
markable fact,  that  each  matter,  or  even  combi- 
nation, has  always  and  invariably  the  same  crystal 
form  peculiar  to  itself.  The  constant  tendency  of  the 
active  to  pursue  the  passive,  for  combination  with 
them,  constitutes  what,  from  a scientific  point  of 
view,  is  called  life, — a tendency  to  which  may 
be  found  in  all  and  every  kind  of  matter.  The 
various  combinations  which  are  taking  place,  and 
the  compound  substances  that  are  in  constant 
process  of  formation,  have  their  origin  in  this 
principle.  By  the  aid  of  science  these  combina- 
tions are  analyzed,  and  the  compound  substances 
are  thus  decomposed  into  what  is  called  elements, 
or  elementary  matter.  Thus,  by  the  light  which 
science  reveals,  we  gain  some  definite  knowledge 


SMALL-POX. 


31 


of  the  various  properties  and  qualities  of  the 
different  forms  of  matter,  their  relations  to  each 
other,  and  the  results  arising  from  their  combi- 
nation. As  oxygen  is  the  most  active  of  all 
known  substances,  it  is  always  ready,  upon  every 
occasion  which  offers,  to  act  upon  every  other 
element,  or  combination  of  elements,  with  which 
it  comes  in  contact.  The  opportunity  for  its 
doing  so  may  exist  in  pressure,  concussive  mo- 
tion, light,  electricity,  heat,  or  by  a third  element, 
or  by  a combination  of  elements.  Any  two  ele- 
ments may  combine  under  given  circumstances, 
one  being  always  more  active  than  the  other. 
When  another  element,  more  active  than  either 
of  the  previous,  is  brought  into  exercise,  it  may 
destroy  their  unity  by  decomposing  them,  and 
appropriate  the  more  passive  to  itself,  or  it  may 
combine  with  both  together. 

" Life  may  be  either  organic  or  inorganic  in  its 
nature ; but  the  difference  between  them  is,  per- 
haps, not  as  great  as  is  generally  supposed.  The 
latter  may  be  regarded  as  simple,  the  former  as 
complicated,  life.  The  simple  or  inorganic  forms 
of  life  are  found  to  exist  before  the  commence- 
ment of  the  organic,  or  complicated;  and  also, 


32 


SMALL-POX. 


again,  after  it  has  ceased  to  exist.  Organic,  or 
complicated,  life,  therefore,  may  be  regarded  as 
occupying  a position  midway  between  the  two 
periods  of  simple  or  inorganic  life.  Illustrations 
of  inorganic  life  may  be  found  in  the  growth  of 
stones,  crystals,  and  other  precious  gems,  and  of 
electrical  currents.  Similar  illustrations  of  or- 
ganic life  are  more  readily  seen  in  the  under- 
ferment cell,  in  the  infinite  variety  of  the  vege- 
table and  animal  kingdom,  and  in  the  human 
organism ; the  first-named  being  the  lowest  form 
of  organic  life  known,  and  the  latter  the  highest. 
Inorganic  life  can  exist  independent  of  the  or- 
ganic, but  the  organic  cannot  exist  without  the 
inorganic;  organic  life  is,  therefore,  a compli- 
cation of  inorganic  life  qualities ; the  first  is  lim- 
ited, the  other  is  not.  . . . 

" Each  matter,  or  element,  has  its  own  pecu- 
liarity; every  element  has  a weight  of  its  own, 
which  is  known  by  numbers.  Hydrogen,  being 
the  lightest,  has  the  number  i ; oxygen,  8 ; car- 
bon, 6 ; Nitrogen,  14,  etc.  If  one  element  com- 
bines with  another  under  certain  conditions,  then 
this  combination  will  always  take  place  under  the 
same  proportions  of  weight  (equivalents).  For 


SMALL-POX. 


33 


example,  oxygen  combines  with  hydrogen  to  form 
water.  We  always  have  8 equivalents  of  oxygen 
to  i equivalent  of  hydrogen  ; it  is  impossible  that 
4 or  5,  or  7 or  9,  of  oxygen  could  be  combined 
with  1 of  hydrogen.  This  number  8 is  peculiar 
to  oxygen  only,  and  cannot  be  found  with  any 
other  element,  or  combination  of  elements ; it  is 
the  invariable  quality  of  oxygen,  and  charac- 
terizes it  in  all  combinations.  Carbonic  acid 
consists  of  1 carbon,  which  has  6 for  its  number, 
with  2 oxygen,  with  8 for  its  number,  its  formula 
is  C O2,  consequently  its  combination  in  equiv- 
alents is  6 carbon  to  16  oxygen.  It  is  impossible 
to  have  6 carbon  to  15  or  17  oxygen,  or  4 or  5 
carbon  to  16  oxygen.  This  unvarying,  most  exact, 
and  absolute  adherence  to  her  own  formula,  by 
nature  in  all  her  realms,  is  here  stated  to  show 
the  mathematical  precision  with  which  she  carries 
on  her  work. 

"The  different  elements,  as  before  stated,  can 
combine  among  themselves  in  all  directions,  but 
they  must  always  and  invariably  follow  another 
unchanging  law.  For  as  all  combinations  must 
always  and  invariably  take  place  with  certain  and 
unvarying  equivalents,  according  to  the  law  just 


34 


SMALL-POX. 


stated,  so,  when  from  any  cause  a body  becomes 
decomposed,  the  elements  which  constituted  "it 
being  thus  set  free,  must  from  necessity  form  their 
new  unities,  in  accordance  with  such  organism 
as  may  happen  to  be  in  process  of  construction 
at  the  place  where,  at  that  instant  of  time, 
such  particular  element  was  set  free.  For  ex- 
ample : if  we  take  a grain  of  wheat,  and  decom- 
pose it  in  our  stomach,  its  elements  are  bound  to 
serve  as  material  for  animal  cells ; if  we  take  it 
and  throw  it  into  a fermenting  liquid,  its  elements 
are  then  bound  to  serve  for  the  formation  of  fer- 
ment cells.  If  we  take  cells  from  our  own  body, 
and  place  them  within  reach  of  an  apple-tree,  the 
elements  of  our  cells  are  bound  to  serve  for  the 
purposes  of  the  apple-tree.  It  is  in  accordance 
with  this  law  that  plants  are  nourished  by  the 
gases  of  the  atmosphere,  and  by  fertilizers  applied 
to  the  soil,  and  it  is  also  in  accordance  with  this 
law  that  our  bodies  are  nourished  and  sustained 
by  the  various  forms  of  food  of  which  we  partake. 

" The  same  law  also  controls  the  various  forms 
of  disorders  to  which  we  subject  ourselves  through 
neglect  of  the  blood.  In  fact,  upon  this  law  rests 
the  arrangement  of  the  whole  world.’’ 

It  will  be  seen  that  all  decomposition  takes 
place  according  to  this  law  ; for  wherever  decom- 
position of  one  form  commences,  the  formation  of 


SMALL-POX. 


35 


a new  one  begins.  People  residing  in  the  same 
cities  or  places,  generally  live  in  many  respects 
very  nearly  alike.  That  is,  the  general  character 
of  their  food,  water,  and  the  air  they  breathe,  is 
the  same,  the  construction  of  their  houses,  and 
the  character  of  their  occupations  similar  or  alike, 
and  bad  as  well  as  good  habits  find  imitators,  etc., 
and  hence  it  is  no  cause  for  wonder  that  they 
should  be  similarly  affected  by  the  same  causes. 

The  amount  of  salts  required  in  the  body,  varies 
very*much  according  to  the  employment  or  occu- 
pation of  the  person.  A person  who  uses  his 
muscles  more  than  his  nervous  system,  requires 
much  less  salt  than  the  one  who  uses  his  brain 
most.  The  use  of  the  brain  and  nerves  is  followed 
by  an  increased  amount  of  salts  in  the  excretions, 
which  goes  to  show  that  more  is  used  in  brain 
labor  than  in  mere  physical  labor,  and  therefore 
that  more  should  be  supplied.  The  person  who 
lives  on  coarse  bread,  and  good  meats,  requires 
less  salt  than  the  one  who  lives  on  very  white 
bread,  starchy  food,  and  poor  meat.  The  person 
who  lives  on  potatoes,  fat,  and  rum,  requires  more 
salt  than  ten  ordinary  persons  together,  to  main- 
tain the  proper  balance.  A person  living  on  a 
great  variety  of  things,  flesh-meat,  cereals,  vege- 
tables, fruits,  fish,  oysters,  etc.,  requires  less  salt 
than  the  one  living  on  one  kind  of  food. 

It  is  a common  error,  or  mistake,  to  regard 


36 


SMALL-POX. 


phosphorus  as  an  especial  agent  for  nervous 
power  ; the  fact  is,  the  nerves  require  all  the  blood- 
salts  together,  but  especially  common  table-salt, 
which  is  the  strongest  nervous  stimulant  nature 
has  provided. 

Persons  who  have  had  Small-pox  will  re- 
member, that  for  some  time  previous,  they  felt 
dull,  heavy,  and  sluggish ; not  sick  enough  to  be 
alarmed  by  it,  but  were  not  as  lively  and  vivacious 
as  formerly ; sometimes  sad,  moody,  or  melan- 
choly, and  sometimes  nervously  irritable  and 
unhappy.  This  peculiarity  of  feeling  always 
precedes  Small-pox,  and  is  occasioned  by  the 
excess  of  albuminous  substances  in  the  blood. 
In  the  beginning  of  Small-pox,  it  is  characterized 
by  an  extreme  headache,  the  sensations  of  which 
are  as  though  a screw  was  being  driven  into  the 
back  part  of  the  head.  This  is  the  condition 
when  the  blood-vessels  are  contracted  by  the 
peripheric  portion  of  the  nerve,  and  the  blood 
thereby  driven  into  the  internal  vessels.  This 
state  is  always  accompanied  by  excessive  chil- 
liness ; but  if  the  nerve  relaxes,  dry  heat  is  felt  on 
the  skin.  In  a day  or  two,  paralysis  of  the  peri- 
pheric portion  of  the  nerve  occurs,  either  over  the 
whole  surface  of  the  body,  or  only  over  a part ; 
sometimes  over  the  whole  surface  of  the  skin, 
and  in  the  mouth,  stomach,  and  intestines.  Such 
cases  are  generally  fatal.  In  an  exact  ratio  to  the 


SMALL-POX. 


37 


paralytic  portion  of  the  nerve,  the  peculiar  pox 
appear,  first  as  red  pustules,  which  swell  more 
and  more,  according  to  circumstances,  sometimes 
remaining  single,  and  sometimes  running  to- 
gether, so  as  to  give  to  the  patient  the  appear- 
ance of  a swollen  and  almost  shapeless  mass. 
The  severity  of  the  case  depends  entirely  upon 
the  previous  condition  of  the  blood.  In  due  time 
these  pustules  begin  to  suppurate,  and  after  hav- 
ing discharged  their  pus  (which  is  nothing  but 
decomposed  albumen,  with  a little  escaped  blood, 
and  some  fragments  of  skin  which  have  been 
destroyed  in  the  process),  dry  up,  leaving  marks 
on  the  skin  where  they  were.  After  persons  re- 
cover from  Small-pox  they  almost  invariably  say 
they  feel  as  if  new  born . The  fact  is,  they  are 
now  only  healthier  than  they  were  previous  ; that 
is,  they  now  experience  the  benefit  of  a correct 
balance  in  their  blood,  and,  therefore,  feel  as  if 
new  born.  But  a 'person  who  always  lives  cor * 
rectly  will  constantly  have  a similar  experience , 
and  no  need  for  Small-pox . The  very  fact  of 
this  invariable  experience  of  persons  who  have 
had  the  Small-pox  is  one  of  the  best  proofs  of 
their  previously  sick  condition,  which,  however, 
they  were  unable  to  perceive,  simply  because 
they  either  did  not  know  or  think  of  any  better 
conditions  at  the  time. 

The  excess  of  albumen  in  the  blood,  or  the 


38 


SMALL-POX. 


predisposition  to  Small-pox,  and  kindred  diseases, 
shows  itself  in  some,  by  a heavy,  sluggish  feeling, 
more  or  less  oppressive ; others  are  oppressed 
with  a sadness  and  melancholy,  which  makes 
them  ready  for  suicide ; while  others,  again,  are 
depressed  one  minute,  and  ready  for  a fight  the 
next.  The  appetite  is  irregular,  and  generally 
of  such  a character,  that  while  the  person  wants 
or  craves  something,  he  does  not  know  what  he 
wants.  Such  persons  very  frequently  give  ex- 
pression to  their  own  view  of  their  condition,  by 
saying,  "My  blood  is  too  thick.”  And  so  it  is. 
Any  kind  of  irritation,  which,  to  a healthy  body, 
would  be  perfectly  harmless  in  its  effect,  is  quite 
sufficient,  when  this  condition  has  reached  a cer- 
tain height,  to  produce  an  immediate  effect.  For 
example,  a fright,  nervous  depression,  a shock 
of  some  kind,  want  of  sleep,  or  impaired  diges- 
tion, may  occasion  the  before-mentioned  condition 
of  the  nerves,  resulting  in  the  expulsion  of  super- 
fluous material. 

It  would,  however,  be  a great  mistake  to  sup- 
pose that  by  eating  a handful  of  salt  the  difficulty 
would  be  corrected.  For  since  the  amount,  as  to 
quantity  of  blood,  can  never  vary  in  the  body, 
the  blood-salts,  when  deficient  or  lacking,  are 
substituted  by  incorrect  or  used-up  material,  all 
of  which  we  shall  call  blood  cinders.  These  have 
to  be  removed  before  we  can  introduce  the  proper 


SMALL-POX. 


39 


amount  of  fresh  or  new  salts.  This  idea  of  cor- 
recting the  blood  may  be  illustrated  somewhat, 
by  the  way  in  which  we  renew  a fire ; before  we 
put  on  fresh  coal,  we  remove  the  cinders.  But 
this  cannot  be  done  all  at  once  with  the  human 
blood  ; the  process  must  be  gradual.  The  amount 
of  new  material  introduced  must  be  in  due  pro- 
portion to  the  excreted  one ; otherwise,  the  pur- 
pose is  not  reached,  or  serious  trouble  is  caused. 

It  is  'possible  that  the  suddenly  excessive  use 
of  salt  may  be  the  immediate  occasion  of  the 
appearance  of  Small-pox , though  previously 
caused  by  the  want  of  it  in  the  first  place . 
It  very  often  occurs,  that  although  a person  has 
need  of  salt,  his  appetite  will  not  crave  it,  the 
blood  being  too  much  filled  with  other  material. 
In  these  cases  it  will  generally  be  found  that  a 
desire  for  acids  exists,  the  demand  for  which 
should  be  gratified  at  once ; not  by  vinegar,  but 
by  some  natural  organic  acid,  such  as  lemon-juice, 
sour  apples,  etc.  When  the  demand  for  acid  has 
been  met,  and  no  improper  food  constantly  in- 
troduced, the  demand  for  salt,  if  needed,  will 
manifest  itself  very  strongly.  Then,  as  much 
salt  as  the  taste  demands  should  be  daily  eaten 
with  the  food. 

There  are  probably  many  persons  who  will 
doubt,  or  perhaps  even  deny,  that  there  is  any 
deficiency  of  salt  in  their  case,  or  as  regards 


4o 


SMALL-POX. 


themselves,  or  who  cannot  readily  comprehend 
that  they  do  not  live  correctly.  We  shall  there- 
fore give  some  general  rules  of  diet,  from  which 
everybody  will  be  able  to  understand  how  the 
blood  difficulty  just  spoken  of  is  brought  about, 
and  how  avoided. 

If  a person  takes  any  kind  of  liquid  or  drink 
during  the  process  of  eating,  he  is  liable  to  over- 
load his  stomach,  or  eat  too  much.  If  he  does 
not  take  any  liquid  while  eating,  the  saliva,  by 
which  the  food  is  moistened  during  mastication, 
will  stop  flowing  as  soon  as  the  stomach  has  re- 
ceived enough.  Therefore,  if  a person  eats  a 
beefsteak,  and  drinks  with  it  sweetened  coffee, 
he  makes  three  mistakes  at  once.  First,  he  sub- 
stitutes the  coffee  for  the  saliva  which  nature  has 
provided,  and  runs  the  risk  of  over-filling  the 
stomach ; second,  he  takes  sugar  instead  of  salt, 
which  is  a gross  mistake ; and  third,  by  drinking 
coffee  he  highly  excites  and  irritates  the  nerves, 
thereby  making  it  difficult  for  the  stomach  to  dis- 
solve the  meat  properly.  The  rule  therefore  is, 
to  drink  coffee  alone,  or  for  the  most  part  with  a 
little  toast ; but  coffee  with  meat  or  fat  is  bad,  but 
sugar  with  meat  or  fat  is  much  worse. 

The  habit  of  flavoring  rice,  puddings,  or  any 
kind  of  starchy  material  with  sugar,  though  very 
general  among  cooks,  is  a bad  one.  All  starchy 
food  should  first  be  properly  seasoned  or  flavored 


SMALL-POX. 


41 


with  salt,  and  then,  if  required,  sugar  added.  If 
eggs  are  used  with  the  starch  or  starchy  food,  the 
defect  of  salt  is  still  greater,  and  quite  a serious 
mistake.  The  drinking  of  milk  in  connection 
with  the  eating  of  flesh-meat,  or  at  the  same  time, 
is  bad,  because  the  milk  will  immediately  absorb 
the  gastric  acid,  curdle  and  enclose  the  meat  like  a 
heavy  coating,  thus  preventing  it  from  dissolving  ; 
and  at  the  same  time  the  sugar  in  the  milk  will 
exclude  salt  from  the  taste. 

The  use  of  any  stimulant  with  a solid  meal  at 
the  same  time,  is  very  bad.  If  a person  is  hungry, 
and  takes  a strong  cup  of  coffee  or  tea,  he  thereby 
loses,  for  a time,  the  demand  for  food,  through  the 
action  of  these  substances  at  the  nerves.  They 
act  somewhat  as  a very  exciting  thing  does  on 
a man’s  brain,  by  which  his  appetite,  for  the  time, 
is  taken  away.  The  use  of  all  stimulants  are 
beneficial  only  as  they  are  properly  used,  and 
very  hurtful  if  used  improperly.  It  is,  therefore, 
a very  bad  mistake  to  drink  tea,  coffee,  or  alcohol 
with  dinner,  or  a similar  meal.  No  matter  how 
often  or  how  long  a person  may  have  done  so 
without  direct  injury,  it  is  very  bad . When  a 
person  has  come  to  feel  the  bad  effect,  he  is 
quite  sick  already.  These  stimulants  not  only 
materially  hurt  our  digestion,  but  take  away  our 
natural  taste,  the  inclinations  nature  gave  us,  the 
instinctive  knowledge  of  what  we  should  eat. 


42 


SMALL-POX. 


All  persons  who  drink  much  tea,  coffee,  or  the 
like,  have  no  instinctive  taste  or  craving  for  the 
right  or  needed  food  at  all.  We  say  none  what- 
ever, however  much  they  may  remonstrate  against 
it.  The  habitual  use  of  these  things  is  invariably 
and  absolutely  accompanied  by  a weak  constitu- 
tion, a yellow  complexion,  and  either  very  irri- 
table or  half  paralyzed  nerves.  Hence  all  nations 
not  using  these  stimulants  are,  in  general,  vigorous 
and  strong;  while  the  Chinese  and  Japanese  are 
small  and  weak,  and  the  same  is  more  or  less 
true  of  all  Americans  who  use  tea  in  excess.  The 
habitual  use,  as  we  have  said,  is  bad  ; still  a good 
cup  of  tea  after  severe  mental  exertion  is  more 
beneficial  than  a hearty  meal,  or  the  best  beef- 
steak. A person  whose  nerves  are  tired  can  no 
more  digest  his  food  well  than  a person  whose 
muscles  are  tired  can  make  a satisfying  meal  from 
a cup  of  tea.  The  great  difference  relative  to  the 
demand  of  these  two  kinds  of  tiredness  on  the 
blood,  is  almost  entirely  unknown.  The  use  of 
the  nervous  system  requires  a restitution  of  the 
blood-salts  more  than  of  the  so-called  respiratory 
food,  sugar,  starch,  fat,  etc.,  while  muscular 
labor  requires  very  little  use  of  the  blood-salts, 
but  more  the  respiratory  food.  The  necessary 
food  for  a person,  therefore,  depends  upon  the  use 
he  makes  of  his  body.  Hence,  many  persons, 
while  living,  as  they  think,  absolutely  correctly, 


SMALL— POX. 


43 


are,  in  fact,  doing  just  the  opposite.  Suppose,  for 
instance,  a man  who  is  doing  hard  brain-work 
orders,  when  hungry,  a beefsteak  with  fried  po- 
tatoes, and  afterwards  eats  some  pudding.  If 
the  steak  is  from  an  animal  which  has  been  fatted 
by  stall  feeding,  it  contains  no  salts,  for  the  free 
use  of  salt  would  'prevent  the  animal  from  taking 
on  fat,  and  is  therefore  withheld ; fat  contains  no 
salt,  potatoes  contain  none,  and  fine  flour,  eggs, 
etc.,  from  which  the  pudding  is  made,  while 
containing  sulphur,  lime,  and  phosphorus,  contain 
none,  while,  as  pudding,  it  contains  sugar,  put  in 
for  flavoring  instead  of  salt.  Therefore,  if  he  has 
not  eaten  a good  deal  of  salt  with  such  a meal, 
it  is  almost  good  for  nothing  for  him . But  had  he 
eaten  of  partridge,  celery  with  salt  and  fried  po- 
tatoes, or  of  venison,  and  afterwards  eaten  some 
nuts  and  apples,  he  would  then  have  taken  all 
that  his  body  required.  Wild  animals  know  how 
to  provide  for  all  their  blood-salts,  and  are  there- 
fore never  so  fat.  But  the  first  meal  is  just  the 
thing  for  a man  who  has  been  hard  at  work  with 
his  muscles  and  not  with  his  brain.  This  is  as 
good  an  illustration  as  can  here  be  given  of  how 
a person  may  be  in  need  of  blood-salts,  although 
eating  what  is  believed  to  be  the  best  food  to  be 
had. 

But  with  children  the  matter  is  much  worse. 
They  are  fed  on  starch,  milk,  white  bread  and 


44 


SMALL-POX. 


butter,  pastry  and  cake,  occasionally  some  meat, 
sugar  and  sweetmeats.  Let  me  ask  every  mother 
how  often  they  have  put  salt  into  the  milk  with 
which  they  have  fed  their  babes,  or  into  the 
starchy  food  or  puddings?  The  food  here  speci- 
fied contains  no  salt  whatever ; for  domestic 
meat  does  not  generally  contain  enough,  nor  does 
the  milk,  unless  the  cows  run  in  pasture,  or  are  fed 
very  much  according  to  nature,  which  they  are 
not,  because  such  feeding  would  not  be  productive 
of  a sufficient  quantity  of  milk  to  satisfy  their 
owners.  ' I maintain,  that  of  one  hundred  children 
in  all  our  American  cities , seventy-jive  are  more 
or  less  dejicient  in  the  amount  of  salt  required , 
and  that  this  deficiency  is  substituted  by  sugar. 
The  consequence  is  scarlet  fever,  measles, 
chicken-pox,  or  small-pox,  according  to  circum- 
stances. And  further,  what  is  the  reason  (if  not 
a deficiency  of  salts)  that  American  children  for 
the  most  part  are  delicate,  not  having  much  en- 
durance, with  white,  instead  of  red,  cheeks,  and 
with  flesh  soft  and  flabby?  The  American  houses 
are  the  best  in  the  world ; no  country  has  better 
food,  or  a better  supply ; no  children  are  kept 
cleaner,  none  are  dressed  better,  and  more 
suitably,  none  get  better  air,  or  live  in  cleaner 
cities,  or  attend  school  in  better  ventilated  school- 
houses,  and  yet  they  are  about  the  weakest ! If 
any  man  can  assign  a reason,  or  answer  the 


SMALL-POX. 


45 


question  here  involved,  otherwise  than  we  have 
done,  we  should  like  to  know  it.  But  we  will 
just  mention  a better  test,  which  all  can  apply. 
Take  away  from  your  children  for  several  meals 
all  sugar  in  every  form,  and  allow  them  as  much 
salt  as  they  will  eat  of  their  own  accord,  and  see  ! 
Would  a child  one  year  old,  think  you,  eat  salt  like 
sugar  if  it  did  not  necessarily  require  it?  If  a child 
has  already  enough  salt,  and  you  give  it  even  an 
atom  more,  it  will  spit  it  out  immediately.  Or,  if 
you  offer  a child  a few  months’  old  lemon,  and  it 
eats  it  eagerly  — does  it  show  nothing?  Give  an 
absolutely  well  child  lemon-juice,  and  see  what  a 
face  it  will  make  ! 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add,  that  if  an  adult 
wishes  to  ascertain  whether  his  blood  requires 
salt,  he  must,  first,  leave  off  all  sugar ; second, 
supply  the  organic  acid,  especially  lemon-juice, 
as  long  as  the  taste  craves  it ; and  third,  not  to 
spoil  the  natural  taste  by  excessive  use  of  alcohol, 
tea,  coffee,  tobacco-chewing,  or  similar  strong 
agents,  which  paralyze  the  nerves  of  taste.  In 
short,  we  would  recommend  the  following  : when 
undressed,  press  gently  with  the  hand  on  the  pit 
of  the  stomach,  under  the  breast-bone,  and  if 
there  should  be  any  pain  or  a sensation  of  uneasi- 
ness, either  you  have  an  inflamed  stomach,  or 
more  often,  chronic  affection  of  the  liver,  and  are 
seriously  sick,  however  well  you  may  feel.  In 


46 


SMALL-POX. 


this  case,  or  if  there  is  habitual  constipation,  an 
educated  and  skilful  physician  should  be  applied 
to  at  once,  for  the  removal  of  the  difficulty.  If 
no  pain  or  uneasiness  is  experienced  in  the  pit 
of  the  stomach  upon  pressure,  and  there  is  no 
habitual  constipation,  there  is  no  need  of  a physi- 
cian to  bring  the  blood  into  an  absolutely  normal 
condition;  to  accomplish  which  — i.  Never  eat 
sugar  at  the  same  time  with  meat;  2.  Salt  all 
food  used  before  adding  sugar;  3.  Never  drink 
while  eating;  4.  Drink  as  much  lemon-juice  as 
the  taste  indicates,  and  continue  its  use  as  long 
as  there  is  a desire  for  acids;  5.  Eat  the  desired 
quantity  of  salt  at  each  meal ; 6.  Eat  otherwise 
any  kind  of  food  which  fancy  or  appetite  craves, 
but  with  variety ; that  is,  not  confined  to  one  kind 
or  variety  of  fare.  I positively  maintain  that  a 
person  who  has  properly  balanced  blood  — the 
correct  amount  of  water,  salts,  and  albuminous 
matter  — cannot  catch  or  be  liable  to  any  disease, 
having  no  predisposition  therefor.  For  I main- 
tain that  if  there  is  no  superfluous  albumen  in  a 
person’s  blood,  none  can  escape  into  the  skin,  as 
in  Small-pox,  and  the  nerves  of  such  a person 
are  in  a condition  to  endure  influences  that  gen- 
erally produce  ” cold  ” or  sickness  without  the 
least  injury  to  him.  Such  a person  feels  vigorous, 
happy,  lively  and  strong ; but  he  who  feels 
otherwise  has  not  his  blood  in  good  order. 


SMALL-POX. 


47 


Having  thus  explained,  theoretically,  what  I 
believe  an  absolute  and  unfailing  preventive 
against  Small-pox,  I can  mention  only  limited 
practical  and  experimental  proofs.  By  observing 
and  demonstrating  the  above  rules,  I have  found, 
during  a practice  of  fourteen  years,  that  in  all  the 
families  I have  attended  during  this  time,  there  is 
not  a single  child  who  has  been  affected  by 
scarlet  fever,  small-pox,  or  any  other  so-called 
catching  disease,  not  even  the  measles ; though 
never  allowed  to  be  kept  from  contact  with  other 
children,  or  to  take  preventive  measures  of  any 
kind  whatever. 

As  regards  myself — was  vaccinated  when  a 
small  child,  but  never  since  — have  exposed  my- 
self, in  all  European  hospitals  that  I attended,  to 
the  Small-pox  patients,  without  using  or  taking 
any  preventive  measures ; at  one  time,  for  six 
months  regularly.  In  Hayti  I have  been  exposed 
many  times,  but  once  especially,  purposely  re- 
maining for  an  hour  in  a room  with  five  sick  and 
dying  children  of  Small-pox,  who  had  been 
treated  according  to  the  Haytien  manner ; namely, 
the  pustules  cut  open,  and  then  rubbed  with  rum. 
Two  of  them  died  while  I was  present,  and  the 
other  three  within  twelve  hours,  all  of  internal 
gangrene.  This  exposure  was  productive  of  no 
effect  whatever  upon  my  own  person,  though  the 
stench  was  of  such  a character  as  to  affect  any 


48 


SMALL-POX. 


person  if  it  were  possible.  Nor  have  I ever,  nor 
would  I ever  take  any  measures  of  disinfection 
in  seeing  Small-pox  patients,  without  the  least 
fear  of  infection,  so  long  as  the  blood  is  in  good 
condition. 

These  facts  here  mentioned,  although  not  con- 
clusive proofs,  are  nevertheless  so  for  me.  Since 
the  views  here  laid  down  can  do  no  harm,  and 
cost  nothing,  they  should  be  tested  by  others. 
The  importance  of  salt  in  the  human  economy 
is  known  by  all  physicians,  and  should  be  by 
everybody ; and  were  some  attention  paid  to  this 
subject,  it  could  be  easily  ascertained  whether 
Small-pox  appears  where  salt  has  been  properly 
used  or  not ; for  myself,  I can  only  give  the  ex- 
perience, and  state  the  facts  as  they  have  been 
derived  from  study  and  research. 


Resume . — Let  it  be  distinctly  understood  that 
what  I intend  to  say  is,  that  vaccination  has  not 
proved  to  be  an  absolutely  reliable  preventive 
against  Small-pox;  and,  therefore,  that  better 
means  for  protection  are  needed. 

That  it  is  absolutely  necessary,  first,  to  know 
the  nature  of  a disease  before  any  attempt  can  be 
made  to  prevent  it. 

That  I have  discovered  the  following  facts,  and 
maintain,  that  Small-pox  consists  in  the  escape 


SMALL-POX. 


49 


of  superfluous  albuminous  substances  into  the 
tissues  of  the  periphery  of  the  nervous  centres  of 
the  body,  caused,  in  the  first  place,  by  the  want 
of  salt. 

That  the  proper  use  of  salt  is  the  scientific  and 
most  certain  preventive  of  Small-pox,  both  in 
theory  and  practice,  that  I have  any  knowledge 
of. 

That  the  use  of  organic  acids  is  the  best  means 
of  freeing  the  blood  from  abnormal  substances, 
which,  for  the  time  being,  may  substitute  the 
place  of  salt  in  the  body. 

That  alcohol  is  an  agent  which  eliminates  the 
blood-salts,  and,  therefore,  after  its  use,  the  salt 
thus  eliminated  must  be  restored. 

That  sugar  can  take  the  place  of  salt  in  regard 
to  taste,  much  to  the  injury  of  the  blood  of  the 
person  substituting  it. 

That  in  mental  labor  more  salt  is  brought  into 
requisition,  and  used  up,  than  in  muscular  or 
physical  labor ; and,  therefore,  that  more  must 
be  used  or  taken  into  the  body  in  the  former  case 
than  in  the  latter. 

That  a person  who  has  a properly  balanced 
blood  cannot  catch,  or  take,  Small-pox  under  any 
circumstances  of  exposure. 

This  theory,  if  correct,  must  hold  good  in  all 
cases,  without  a single  exception  ; and  if  nothing 
can  be  found  to  disprove  its  correctness,  it  holds 


50 


SMALL-POX. 


good  that  the  proper  use  of  salt,  in  the  human 
economy,  will  eradicate  Small-pox  at  once  and 
forever. 

Therefore  the  use  and  office  of  salt  should  be 
more  generally  known  and  taught  in  all  our 
public  schools. 


APPENDIX, 

INCLUDING  VACCINATION,  ETC. 


SOME  months  have  elapsed  since  the  publica- 
tion of  the  first  edition  of  this  treatise,  and 
nothing  as  yet  has  appeared  to  disprove  its  cor- 
rectness. Several  hundred  journals,  professional 
and  others,  have  recommended  it  to  their  readers, 
while  some  of  the  most  prominent  papers  in  the 
country  have  considered  it  worthy  of  lengthened 
and  earnest  consideration.  Others,  again,  have 
rudely  denied  its  correctness,  or  contemptuously 
stigmatized  it  as  " a little  pamphlet  full  of  er- 
rors,” without,  however,  being  able  either  to 
point  out  the  errors,  or  to  show  wherein  it  is  in- 
correct. But  this  is  a radical  defect  of  several 
so-called  medical  journals,  the  editors  of  which, 
it  would  seem,  have  yet  to  learn  that  rude  rejec- 
tion and  unqualified  denunciation  is  not  criticism, 
but  a proof,  rather,  of  annoyance,  vexation,  and 
conscious  incompetency  to  refute  or  to  criticise 
the  positions  in  question.  A good  illustration  of 
the  characteristic  validity  of  judgment  which  is 
usually  rendered  in  medical  matters,  will  be 
given  further  on,  in  an  examination  of  the  St. 
Louis  Medical  Society  and  their  journal,  and 
the  American  Journal  of  Medical  Sciences  of 
Philadelphia  — journals  which  are  considered 

(50, 


52 


APPENDIX. 


among  the  very  best  conducted  in  the  country  — - 
in  the  case  of  Dr.  Spinzig,  of  St.  Louis. 

Relative  to  artificial  substitutes  for  salt,  the  fol-  ’ 
lowing,  in  addition,  will  prove  interesting.  A 
seaman,  a commander  of  a vessel,  represented 
himself  as  having  had  Small-pox  on  the  high  seas, 
after  being  out  three  months,  and  living  en- 
tirely upon  salted  provisions.  His  face  was 
strongly  pitted,  and  his  appearance  that  of  a very 
intelligent  person.  He  related  the  following: 
Left  the  coast  of  Europe  with  twenty-two  sailors 
and  one  passenger ; fare  consisted  of  pickled 
meats,  starch,  flour  and  potatoes.  After  three 
months  out,  two  of  the  sailors  were  taken  sick 
with  Small-pox.  They  supposed  that  the  pas- 
senger must  have  brought  it  on  board  in  his  bag- 
gage, he  himself  not  being  affected.  They 
were  five  months  out  altogether.  Upon  the 
inquiry  whether  they  had  scurvy  on  board,  he 
said  no,  that  the  meat  had  been  pickled  with  salt- 
petre, and  not  with  salt,  and  that  scurvy  only 
appeared  after  using  salted  meats,  but  not  from 
saltpetre.  He  also  remarked  that  the  meat  was 
so  strongly  impregnated  with  saltpetre  that  it 
tasted  bitter  after  twenty-four  hours’  soaking  in 
water,  and  that  consequently  he  ate  a good  deal 
of  starch  and  flour  to  counteract  the  bitter  taste. 
No  salt  was  eaten  at  all.  Hence  the  facts  are 
readily  explained.  Saltpetre  is  a nitrogenous 
combination,  and  consequently  allied  to  albumen 
instead  of  its  opposite,  as  salt,  which  is  a direct 
chlorine  combination  with  sodium.  Saltpetre  is, 
therefore,  a substitute  for  salt,  which  is  worse  than 
sugar.  The  Small-pox  was  not  carried  on  board, 


APPENDIX. 


S3 


as  was  supposed  by  the  sailors,  but  originated 
as  a natural  consequence  from  superabundance 
of  nitrogenous  or  albuminous  composition  in  the 
blood.  The  reason  that  sailors  frequently  get 
Small-pox  almost  as  soon  as  they  leave  the  ship, 
may  be  found  in  the  fact  that  their  blood  is 
already  too  full  of  albuminous  matter ; or,  that 
as  a consequence  of  having  too  much  salt  (from 
long  use  of  salt  food) , their  blood  is  too  thin, 
or  deficient  in  albumen,  when,  as  soon  as  on 
land,  they  eat  freely  of  rich  and  fresh  material, 
drink  all  the  alcohol  they  can  get,  never  touch 
salt  from  aversion,  and  thus  fill  their  blood  with 
albumen,  and  free  it  entirely  from  common,  or 
table  salt,  the  natural  consequence  of  which  is 
Small-pox,  or  a similar  disorder.  The  above- 
mentioned  seaman  also  stated  that  he  never 
knew  or  heard  of  Small-pox  and  scurvy  being 
found  together  on  board  ship ; that  his  own  sis- 
ter had  malignant  Small-pox  twice,  which  he 
thought  was  sufficient  proof  of  the  inefficacy  of 
vaccination,  since  Small-pox  itself  is  not  a pre- 
ventive. 

In  reference  to  the  security  afforded  against 
Small-pox  by  vaccination  and  by  Small-pox 
itself,  the  experience  collected  by  the  late  Sir 
James  Y.  Simpson  (Obstetric  Memoirs  and 
Contributions,  edited  by  Drs.  Priestley  and 
Storer),  is  both  interesting  and  important.  Al- 
though a strong  advocate  for  vaccination,  he 
mentions  various  cases  in  which  Small-pox  and 
vaccine  disease  affected  the  same  individual  at 
the  same  time,  independent  of  one  another ; and 
other  cases  where  Small-pox  appeared  directly 


54 


APPENDIX. 


after  successful  vaccination ; and  also  the  case 
of  a Frenchwoman  who  died  from  the  eighth 
attack  of  real  Small-pox. 

In  consideration  of  the  general  interest  man- 
ifested relative  to  the  certainty  of  the  present 
preventive  measures  in  use,  I shall  give  my  opin- 
ion of  vaccination  with  due  reference  to  sci- 
entific researches  and  progress,  without  any  re- 
gard to  the  opinions  held  by  the  greater  part  of 
medical  practitioners. 

To  exhaust  this  subject,  I shall  endeavor  to 
show  — 

First , That  its  origin  was  not  of  a scientific 
character,  and  that  it  has  never  had  at  any  time 
a scientific  basis. 

Second , That  the  prevention  afforded  by  vac- 
cination is  due  to  the  lessened  or  diminished 
amount  of  albumen  in  the  blood  occasioned  by 
the  ulcer  produced. 

Third , That  the  vaccine  virus  generally  em- 
ployed is  nothing  but  pus,  and  that  the  intro- 
duction of  pus  into  the  blood  is  a criminal  offence 
under  any  circumstances. 

Fourth , That  nothing  specific , either  as  pre- 
ventive or  as  diseased,  is  contained  in  any 
kind  of  vaccine  virus,  no  matter  how  or  where 
produced. 

The  idea  or  notion  of  inoculation  was  intro- 
duced by  Lady  Montague,  from  the  East.  Upon 
returning  to  England,  she  had  her  own  daughter 
inoculated  with  Small-pox  virus,  which  experiment 
came  very  near  proving  fatal.  This,  and  other 
experiments  of  the  kind,  while  they  called  at- 
tention to  the  subject,  prevented  the  practice 


APPENDIX. 


55 


from  becoming  universal.  Jenner  was  a pupil 
of  the  English  surgeon,  John  Hunter,  where  he 
learned  surgery,  and  afterwards  went  into  the 
country  to  practise  as  a surgeon.  His  education 
must  have  been  limited,  as  he  never  attended  any 
university  whatever,  and  there  is  no  other  idea 
known  as  coming  from  him  aside  from  the  one 
which  he  conceived  upon  the  suggestion  of  a 
dairy  maid,  of  substituting  cow-pox  virus  for 
human  Small-pox  virus.  Lady  Montague’s  un- 
successful attempt  to  introduce  inoculation  had 
already  aroused  attention  to  the  subject  of  a pre- 
ventive against  Small-pox,  a disorder  which, 
while  it  was  the  fear  of  all,  none  could  either 
comprehend  or  prevent.  Hence,  from  the  very 
fear  and  feeling  of  helplessness  then  agitating 
the  public  mind,  and  in  the  absence  of  any  other 
advice  or  preventive,  Jenner’s  proposition,  of  a 
much  less  dangerous  procedure  than  that  of  in- 
oculation, was  regarded  with  favor,  and  the  sub- 
ject made  generally  known,  until  ultimately  it 
was  everywhere  received  with  immense  ap- 
plause 

Very  able  medical  men  have  at  all  times  op- 
posed vaccination  ; but  since  they  had  nothing 
better  to  substitute  for  it,  and  could  neither  ex- 
plain the  nature  of  Small-pox  or  of  vaccina- 
tion, they  invariably  failed  to  make  an  impression  ; 
while,  under  the  circumstances,  their  opposition 
made  the  use  of  vaccination  appear  more  and 
more  plausible,  until  it  has  gained  an  almost  un- 
doubted reputation,  by  both  the  medical  and  non- 
medical world.  The  greatest  error  of  those  who 
have  opposed  vaccination  has  been,  that  while 


APPENDIX. 


56 

they  had  nothing  better  to  offer,  they  have  de- 
prived it  of  all  preventive  power,  which  is  a 
mistake,  as  will  be  shown  further  on. 

In  the  whole  literature  of  science,  and  in  the 
experiments  and  improvements  made  in  scientific 
knowledge,  there  does  not  exist  one  single  fact 
which  could  support  the  idea  of  inoculation  or 
of  vaccination ; the  only  basis,  therefore,  upon 
which  the  practice  rests,  is  that  of  statistics. 
But  statistics,  as  every  thinking  man  knows,  are 
very  unreliable  ; for  example,  it  can  be  shown 
by  statistics  that  more  people  are  sick  now  than 
one  hundred  years  ago,  and  a logical  conclusion 
would  be,  that  physicians  are  more  ignorant  now 
than  they  were  one  hundred  years  ago ; but  such 
conclusion  would,  nevertheless,  be  a very  incor- 
rect one.  Accurately-made  statistics  show  that 
the  number  of  those  vaccinated  exceeds  that  of 
the  unvaccinated  in  various  Small-pox  hos- 
pitals. The  recent  appearance  of  Small-pox 
generally  throughout  Europe,  and  in  various 
places  in  this  country,  gives  little  or  no  support 
to  vaccination  when  statistics  are  made  without 
prejudice,  and  not  for  the  purpose  of  sustaining 
this  practice. 

For  those  who  are  very  interested  in  statistics, 
we  propose  the  following : during  the  whole 
period  in  which  vaccination  has  been  employed, 
it  has  only  occurred  now  to  the  medical  profes- 
sion generally  that  human  vaccine  virus  is  dan- 
gerous and  harmful,  and  that  animal  virus  must 
be  again  substituted.  Now  how  many  millions 
of  human  beings  did  it  require  to  be  injured  to 
bring  about  this  change  of  tactics?  After  ascer- 


APPENDIX. 


57 


taining  this,  how  many  more  millions  must  be 
more  or  less  injured  for  life,  before  a medical 
majority  come  to  see  the  necessity  of  giving  up 
vaccination  altogether  as  a failure?  Is  there  a 
better  testimony  or  evidence  of  the  fallacy  of  the 
whole  thing,  than  that  the  experience  teaches 
that  a procedure  of  the  past  century  is  to  be  re- 
taken as  a defence  ? and  is  it  not  a beautiful  proof 
that  medical  men  have  not  as  yet  learned  any- 
thing by  experience,  except  the  fact  that  prac- 
titioners have  injured  the  human  body  more  than 
benefited  it?  Must  whole  generations  be  ex- 
posed to  an  injurious  and  dangerous  practice, 
simply  to  serve  the  practitioners  as  a means  to  find 
out  their  great  ignorance  and  lack  of  common 
sense? 

If  we  next  consider  the  condition  of  science  a 
hundred,  or  even  fifty,  years  ago,  as  compared 
with  the  present,  we  arrive  at  the  plain  fact  that 
the  knowledge  then  existing  amounted  to  about 
nothing.  Then  there  was  no  true  knowledge 
relative  to  fire,  air,  or  water,  and  no  knowledge 
whatever  of  the  nature  of  the  blood  and  its  con- 
stituents ; of  its  disorders,  of  a blood-cell,  or  of  a 
capillary  vessel  and  its  actions,  or  of  nervous 
action ; of  anatomy,  nearly  nothing  was  dreamed 
of ; of  pathological  processes  in  the  body,  nothing 
existed  which  was  positive  or  defined,  either  by 
anatomy,  physiology,  or  chemistry.  Therefore 
it  is  both  absurd  and  ridiculous  for  any  one  to 
put  forth  the  opinion  and  belief  of  the  men  of  by- 
gone times  as  an  authority. 

It  has  been  known  for  ages  that  inoculation 
with  pus,  or  morbid  organic  matter,  was  very 


58 


APPENDIX. 


dangerous,  producing  malignant  ulcers ; and 
from  this  fact,  and  the  experience  that  vaccination, 
here  and  there,  was  followed  by  swelling  of  the 
axillary  glands,  ulceration,  and  serious  con- 
sequences, the  opposition  against  vaccination 
arose ; but  it  could  not  be  explained  with  exact- 
ness until  Virchow  discovered  the  process  of 
capillary  embolism . This  consists  in  the  exper- 
imental truth,  that  any  substance  of  a solid 
character,  be  it  a metallic  particle,  or  a clot  of 
fibrin,  or  a dead  or  diseased  cell,  will  be  caught 
in  the  finer  capillary  vessels  and  obstruct  them. 
It  was  also  ascertained  by  experimental  investi- 
gation that  the  injection  of  morbid  liquids  dis- 
turbs the  blood  very  much,  not  causing  direct 
embolism,  but,  rather,  ulcerous  discharges  upon 
the  mucous  membrane  of  the  intestines.  These 
two  facts  have  been  confirmed  by  all  experiment- 
ers, and  cannot  be  reasonably  objected  to  by  any 
living  person.  The  subject,  however,  has 
gained  more  ground  since  the  experiments  of 
Villemin,  and  especially  those  of  Waldenburg. 
They  did  not  inject  into  the  veins,  but  simply  in- 
oculated animals  with  pus,  sputa,  and  a great 
variety  of  things,  such  as  cotton- wool,  or  disin- 
fected substances,  all  of  which  caused  the  death 
of  the  smaller  animals,  and  the  severe  illness  of 
larger  ones,  which,  if  they  recovered  at  all, 
were  injured  beyond  repair.  These  experiments 
have  been  repeated  almost  everywhere,  and 
found  to  be  unfailing  in  their  results,  and  there- 
fore cannot  be  objected  to.  Hence  it  has  been 
established  by  experimental  proof,  as  a scientific 
law , that  the  introduction  of  substances  under 


APPENDIX. 


59 


the  shin,  which  create  or  cause  an  ulcerous  dis- 
organization, are  harmful  and  dangerous  under 
all  circumstances . 

Artificial  ulcers  have  been  employed  as  a 
means  to  rectify  the  blood,  in  all  ages,  as  far  as 
history  extends,  and  by  the  Chinese  long  before 
distinct  historical  notes  were  within  the  reach  of 
our  race.  This  was  done  with  the  view  of  re- 
moving so-called  " humors  ” from  the  blood. 
What  these  humors  were  nobody  ever  knew,  or 
could  know ; but  to-day  we  know  with  certainty 
that  they  are  nothing  but  blood  cinders,  or  super- 
fluous remains  left  by  nutrition,  which  are  not 
properly  expelled.  Every  physician  knows  that 
an  ulcer  consumes  a great  deal  of  albumen,  since 
a continual  cell  formation  is  going  on,  a process 
which  can  only  be  kept  up  at  the  expense  of  the 
albumen  furnished.  The  'preventive  power  of 
vaccination  lies  in  this  waste  of  albumen,  and 
in  nothing  else . Consequently  the  protection 
afforded  by  vaccination  against  Small-pox  is  in 
an  exact  ratio  to  the  amount  of  this  waste,  or 
diminished  albumen ; and  the  reason  why  vac- 
cination is  not  unfailing  in  its  effects  as  a pre- 
ventive, is  at  once  obvious.  If  an  ulcer  is  kept 
open  long  enough  to  remove  all  superfluous  al- 
bumen, and  the  blood  properly  balanced,  such 
person  would  be  absolutely  secure  against  Small- 
pox. It  would,  however,  be  a mistake  to  sup- 
pose that  an  ulcer  would  invariably  rectify  the 
blood.  This  can  only  be  expected  when  proper 
nutrition  and  excretion  are  going  on ; then  such 
ulcer  would  act  as  an  extra  safety-valve ; but  if 
there  be  a continued  introduction  of  improper 


6o 


APPENDIX. 


material,  and  if  any  of  the  larger  secretive 
glands  refuse  service,  then  such  ulcer  would  af- 
ford little  or  no  aid  whatever.  In  the  waste  of 
albumen  connected  with  the  natural  process  of 
an  ulcer,  we  have  an  explanation  of  the  fact  that 
all  patients  suffering  from  chronic  ulceration  are 
free  from  certain  blood  disorders,  such  as  typhus 
and  Small-pox.  A consumptive  person  is  never 
attacked  by  typhus  or  Small-pox,  as  every  ex- 
perienced physician  knows.  The  same  will  be 
found  true  in  reference  to  almost  all  chronic  ul- 
cerations, whether  internal  or  external.  Hence 
it  appears  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  process  of 
vaccination  as  a specific  preventive,  beyond  that 
which  appertains  to  any  ulcer  — as  any  ulcer 
would  have  the  same  effect . 

In  support  of  this,  I shall  show  that  nothing 
whatever  can  be  found  of  a specific  character 
either  in  Small-pox  or  vaccine  matter,  in  cholera 
or  any  other  stools ; and  that  in  no  way  does 
there  exist  in  any  spores,  germs  or  contagions 
of  a specific  character  as  disease.  In  December, 
1869,  I published,  in  the  Journal  of  the  Gynaeco- 
logical Society  of  Boston,  a paper  directly  touching 
vaccination  and  Small-pox,  and  also  in  the 
February  number  of  Good  Health  for  1870; 
but  the  views  there  expressed  were  so  absolutely 
novel  and  at  variance  with  the  opinions  held  on 
the  subject  by  the  medical  profession  here,  that 
they  produced  general  disapprobation.  Dr. 
Martin,  of  Roxbury,  a gentleman  who  has  given 
a great  deal  of  attention  to  vaccination  and 
vaccine  virus,  in  disproof  of  my  statement  that 
vaccine  virus  was  nothing  but  pus,  gave  me  for 


APPENDIX. 


6l 


examination  two  specimens  of  his  best  vaccine 
virus,  one  from  a heifer,  the  other  from  a child. 
I examined  both  specimens  under  the  microscope, 
with  an  upward  magnitude  from  two  hundred 
and  fifty  to  one  thousand  diameters.  The  spec- 
imen from  the  heifer  was  free  of  any  cells  or 
coagulum,  and  is  the  only  specimen  of  vaccine 
virus  which  I ever  examined  that  I could  pro- 
nounce safe  for  vaccination,  if  such  a procedure 
is  indulged  in  at  all.  The  other  specimen,  from 
the  child,  contained  several  red  blood-globules 
which  had  not  yet  transformed  into  pus-cells,  or 
perished.  The  peculiar  molecules  observed  in 
the  specimen  from  the  heifer,  under  the  micros- 
cope with  the  power  of  one  thousand  diameters, 
are  not  specific  vaccine  germs,  but  such  as  are 
found  in  any  albumen.  This  hunting  for  spe- 
cific germs,  so  prominently  indulged  in  in  Eng- 
land at  present,  arises,  and  is  nurtured,  from 
lack  of  thought  and  comparison  in  observation. 
Instead  of  first  comparing  normal  albumen  with 
that  from  an  ulcer,  the  conclusion  is  jumped  at 
that  these  small  particles  observed  in  the  latter 
must  be  specific  germs,  but  any  one  can  satisfy 
himself  that  they  are  always  present  in  albumen. 
In  support  of  the  correctness  of  the  views  I have 
here  and  elsewhere  presented,  I shall  quote  from 
a lecture  by  Dr.  Hilgard  (a  gentleman  who  now 
has  the  direction  of  a United  States  Meteorological 
station),  read  before  the  Academy  of  Sciences 
in  New  Orleans,  and  received  through  the  kind- 
ness of  Dr.  Spinzig,  of  St.  Louis  : 

"The  tissue  of  fungi  is  a medullary,  almost 
fleshy  ' sarcode.’  The  diastase , or  active  yeast- 


62 


APPENDIX® 


molecules,  according  to  Liebig’s  latest  analysis, 
are  of  the  same  composition,  as  far  as  percentage 
of  atomic  ingredients  goes,  as  the  muscular 
fibre.  They  are  flesh  (or  sarcode , which  means 
about  the  same).  The  original  mode  of  growth, 
or  evolution  of  the  yeast-globules,  remained,  as 
yet,  unknown,  I have  repeatedly  taken  occasion 
to  point  out  the  fallacies  of  all  observers,  caused 
by  not  observing  connectedly.  The  seminal  (or 
vibrionic)  tissue  is  omnipresent  in  all  cells  of 
plants  or  animals.  A small  particle  of  fungous 
dust,  a fragment  of  a fungous  fibril,  especially 
of  the  common  lacteal,  bread  and  apple  mould 
(which  likewise  is  the  ferment  of  all  putrid  cor- 
ruption), will  bodily  dissolve  into  a gelatine  of 
blackish  color,  when  alighted  in  or  on  ferment- 
able material.  No  fungus  has  a cellulose  or 
'papery  fibre,  coat,  or  cell.  Searching  for  ' cel- 
lulose ’ in  a mass  of  yeast-cells,  argues  a thor- 
ough misunderstanding.  The  adult  fermenting 
fungus,  moulding  and  corrupting  our  bread  and 
flesh,  consists  of  cells,  but  not  of  ' cellulose,’  and 
so  does  the  fermentive 'yeast-cell,’ likewise.  It 
is  a grave  and  fatal  mistake  to  ascribe  fermen- 
tation of  starch  into  sugar,  and  of  sugar  into 
either  alcohol  or  lactic  acid,  etc.,  to  the  ( coated ) 
yeast  -cells.  Whenever  sugar,  etc.,  has  to  be 

converted,  the  yeast-cell  at  once  dissolves  its 
coat  into  a nutritious  gelatine,  prolapsing  its 
vibrionic  (commutative  or  truly  fermentive ) 
molecules,  as  will  appear  on  making  the  check 
or  test  experiment.  All  assertions  of  peculiar 
features  claimed,  require  to  be  brought  to  this 
' crucial  ’ test  before  they  can  claim  deservingly 


APPENDIX. 


63 


any  publicity  whatsoever.  The  fundamental 
rule,  to  first  establish  the  normal  feature  before 
a 'distinctive’  character  can  be  allowed,  is  con- 
stantly neglected.  It  was  solely  on  this  basis  of 
an  absolute  and  quite  an  unpardonable  sin  of 
omission,  viz.,  neglect  of  the  normal  or  of  the 
check  experiment , that,  of  late,  half  a hundred 
of  pretended  ' specific  ’ fungi  have  been  claimed 
as  ' parasites , producing  so  many  specific  dis- 
eases.’ Let  it  at  once  be  stated  as  a historic 
fact,  that  the  normal  process  of  fungous  decay 
(or  corruption)  of  stools  and  offals,  as  of  flesh 
and  blood,  had  hitherto  never  been  studied . 
In  adopting,  publishing,  and,  still  worse,  en- 
forcing by  legal  enactments  the  recognition  of 
certain  supposed  characteristic  or  'specific’ 
fungi,  no  one  ever  asked  or  dared  inquire  what 
is  the  inevitable  normal  corruption  of  the  flesh . 
This  condemns  the  whole  system  at  once ; and 
even  the  late  dementi  given  to  such  foregone  as- 
sumptions, for  example,  about  a so-called  'chol- 
era.fungus,’  which  is  normally  evolved  upon  all 
healthy  discharges  no  less  than  on  diseased  or 
morbid  ones,  actually  came  ' too  late.’  That 
check  ought  to  have  been  required  before  send- 
ing a committee  to  hunt  for  it  to  the  jungles  of 
India,  who  found  no  distinctive  fungus  at  all. 
But  that  that  fungus  is  only  the  common  fermen- 
tive  yeast  or  ?nould  of  our  larder , no  one  could 
say,  but  who  had  examined  it  in  its  continuous 
development,  by  growing  it  reversely  and  con- 
versely under  the  microscope. 

" Liebig  denied  the  yeast  to  be  present  in  pu- 
trid cadaverous  corruption,  because  his  micro- 


64 


APPENDIX. 


scopist  saw  no  cells , and  he  himself  saw  no 
cellulose  membranes,  which,  by  the  way,  the 
yeast  itself  never  yet  possessed.  The  well- 
known  extracellular  as  well  as  intracellular  vi- 
brionic  particles,  or  diastase,  Pasteur’s  school 
claimed  for  animals  — ' snakes,  snapping  up  vi- 
brios.’ What  species  of  serpents  those  were,  truly 
'more  subtle  than  any  animal  made’  (adult  an- 
imal), is  left  in  the  dark.  The  vibratile  tail,  or 
scourge  of  all  primitive  life  molecules,  might  at 
once  be  claimed  as  the  very  'finest  of  all  ser- 
pents ’ yet ; finer  than  any  true  animal  what- 
ever. As  it  is,  it  forms  an  active  instrument  of 
flagellation  upon  convertible,  digestible,  or  fer- 
mentible  liquids.  A single  vibrio  will  sometimes 
directly  enlarge  and  assume  a cell  coat  as  an 
individual  yeast-cell ; but  in  most  cases,  during 
the  process  of  actual  cadaverous  corruption,  no 
less  than  during  the  true  fermentic  process  of 
converting  sugar,  etc.,  into  alcohol  or  lactic  acid 
(accompanied  by  the  evolution  of  carbonic  acid), 
no  cell  whatever  need  be  formed . I have  re- 
peatedly fermented  grape-juice  and  simple  corn- 
meal  with  water,  not  allowing,  however,  of  any 
drying  up  at  the  borders  of  the  vials.  In  all 
these  cases  the  lactic  as  well  as  alcoholic,  and 
the  fearfully  miasmatic,  putrid  fermentation,  as 
of  flesh  or  moss  spawns  (which  is  likewise  a 
gangre7ious  one),  no  less  than  the  offensive  bu- 
tyric or  fusel  corruption  (as  of  mashes,  swill, 
distilleries,  levees  and  the  cane  refuse),  all  were 
enacted  without  the  presence  or  formation  of  the 
ultimate  cells  of  the  yeast,  that  only  hoard  up  the 
fungous  material  on  hand,  and  redissolve  in  fer- 


APPENDIX. 


65 


mentible  liquids.  The  process  of  the  vibrionic 
concatenation  (or  inosculation  in  single  file , of 
the  primitive  fermentic  molecules)  has  been  partly 
observed  by  Pasteur  as  well  as  Haller.  Ehren- 
berg  described  this  (corruptive)  yeast-molecule 
not  inaptly,  as  ' monas  crepusculum  ’ — a hazy, 
nebulous  monad,  a carniverous  ( !)  animal,  in- 
habiting, as  he  gives  it,  chiefly  ' St.  Petersburg, 
Berlin,  and  other  European  Capitals.5  The 
naked  vibrios  which  lengthwise  joined  in  single 
file,  a process  unknown  to  him,  he  describes  as 
'ophidomonas  5 (or  snake  monad),  as  it  is  found 
violently  revolving,  like  an  Archimedean  screw. 
These  are  Pasteur’s  serpents ; snapping  up  vi- 
brios. They  inosculate  by  pairs,  after  mych  spin- 
ning or  churning , so  to  speak,  and  then  join 
other  longer  or  shorter  files,  or  parts  of  weltering 
coils,  adding  to  their  length.  To  call  these 
semi-liquid,  naked,  sarcode  bead-strings  ' sac- 
charomyces5  after  so  many  names  had  been 
given,  appears  a$  a mere  redundancy  of  diction, 
if  not  as  a want  of  deference  due  to  eminent  pri- 
orities ; particularly  if  once  more  a new  specific 
name  is  given,  as  a so-called  species  and  genus, 
that,  however,  had  never  yet  been  traced,  and 
thus  far  required  to  be  demonstrated . As  a few 
vibrious  or  primitive  flagellate  molecules  become 
united,  the  vibratory  halo  which  surrounds  each 
one  singly,  at  once  disappears  except  at  the  ends, 
which  are  actively  twirling  round  the  little  frus- 
tule  curve  or  coil,  and  are  seen  delving  against 
any  slimy  material  they  may  meet  in  their  way. 
It  is  thus  that  they  become  entangled,  involved 
or  enveloped  in  any  gelatine,  or  in  spoiled  meat 


5 


66 


APPENDIX. 


(hung  down  through  a bung-hole),  and  in  which 
they  stick  fast,  and  are  easily  got  rid  of  by  ex- 
tracting them  with  the  meat. 

"After  a little  while,  when  apt  to  encyst,  they 
' become  still,’  for  example,  adhering  to  the  glass 
slips;  between  which  they  were  bred,  by  way  of 
experiment.  . They  then  are  seen  to  become  a 
little  dilated,  or  as  it  were  drofsical , exude  a 
delicate  cell  membrane,  and  now  represent  a little 
fibre.  In  fermentible  liquids,  the  worm-like, 
dropsical  fibrils  rapidly  segment  and  ramify  into 
beads,  thus  constituting  the  yeast-cells.  The 
latter  again  multiply,  and  elongate  into  moulds, 
fibrils  and  floritions.  In  stagnating  or  impure 
flowing  water,  these  slim  fibres,  of  about  one- 
forty  thousandth  of  a line  in  thickness,  collect 
into  the  prancing,  fluctuating,  dirty  tassels  ob- 
served in  the  street  gutters  of  cities,  etc.,  and  al- 
though themselves  inodorous,  they  exhale  the 
rank  gangrenous,  or  the  infectious  butyric  mias- 
mas, which  at  once  seem  to  affect  the  fermentible 
contents  of  the  blood  and  liver  more  especially. 
With  respect  to  the  latter  action  upon  our  system 
(easily  realized  by  breeding  those  effluvia  in  a 
little  corked  bottle),  we  need  nowise  assume  a 
specific  parasite ; but  merely  an  altered  action 
of  our  own  'specific  ’ organization  ! As  for  the  pro- 
pagative action  of  certain  effluvia,  we  have  a 
similar  function  in  the  action  of  fire  kindling  or- 
ganic substances.  In  organic  bodies,  an  action 
once  started  will  oftentimes  be  apt  to  run  like  a 
wild-fire,  until  it  ceases  to  find  nourishment.  But 
there  are  other  ' kindling ’ substances  than  fire  ; 
for  example,  heat  and  oxygen  alone.  Nitro- 


APPENDIX. 


67 


glycerine,  an  organic  compound,  will  explode  at 
the  touch  of  resinous  substances.  The  commu- 
nication of  the  action  is  all  that  is  required. 
Our  whole  system  itself  being  a 'reproductive’  as 
well  as  self-decomposing  or  ' excretory  ’ one,  its 
'reproductive  action’  might  be  directed  per- 
versely, or  the  substances  hoarded  up  be  fired 
by  a 'specific  fire.’  Fire,  indeed,  has  been  the 
symbol  of  all  contagion.  ' Kindling’  conveys,  at 
the  present  day,  the  idea  for  contagion  in  the 
German  language.  Inorganic  bodies  are  ulti- 
mately, in  their  last  particles, ' uniform,’  or  dense , 
so  to  speak.  Their  uniform  reaction  upon  phy- 
sical agents  constitutes  the 'chemical  property.’ 
Uniform  reaction,  uniform  being,  is  called  dy - 
namostatic  condition,  properly  so  as  compared 
with  the  aeriform  or  'pneumostatic’  reaction  of 
matter;  the  liquid,  or  'hydrostatic,’  and  the  static 
action  of  inertia  as  in  solids,  to  persist  in  the 
sense  of  the  force  communicated  in  a straight 
line.  'Static  persistence’  is  the  character  of 
inert  matter,  persisting  as  such  into ' unlimited 
time  and  space  (stat  terra  in  eternum).  Inor- 
ganic matter  will  only  burn  if  sufficient  heat,  or 
other  work  done  or  bestowed,  for  example,  by 
pulverizing  or  refining  it  into  separate  particles, 
be  suferadded.  Thus  sulphur,  for  example,  will 
not  kindle  except  by  adding  more  heat,  or  so 
much  of  pulverization,  as  in  the  manufacture  of 
sulphuric  acid  the  sulphur  is  burned  by  setting  a 
pulverized  portion  on  fire.  Sulphur  will  burn 
copper  in  a ruby  red  flame,  when  rasped  down 
and  heated ; but  neither  they,  nor  phosphorus 
either,  will,  in  a low  temperature,  kindle . This 


68 


APPENDIX. 


' kindling/  or  spontaneous  continuous  process  of 
oxydation  of  carbon,  in  burning,  is  exclusively 
the  property  of  organic  matter;  and  it  is,  more- 
over, the  fundamental  common  feature  of  all 
plants  as  well  as  animals,  to  render  up  carbonic 
acid  gas ; the  gas  of  the  champagne,  not  that  of 
burning  charcoal,  as  Prof.  Huxley  lately  stated, 
(by  some  lapsus  lingua , probably).  The  gas 
evolved  by  burning  charcoal  is  the  tasteless  and 
inodorous  carbonic  oxyde  gas ; not  only  unsuit- 
able for  respiration,  but  directly  poisonous.  The 
specific  heat  of  all  animal  bodies  is  due,  as  is 
well  known,  to  their  process  of  respiration, 
whether  by  lungs-,  gills,  or  insects’  trachae.  All 
absorb  oxygen,  and  render  up  carbonic  acid  gas 
by  a peculiar  process  of  a low  combustion,  due 
to  the  slow,  propagative  firing  of  carbon  stored 
in  their  tissues.  It  is  hence  predicable,  in  the 
strictest  literal  sense  of  the  word,  that  their  breath 
slowly  ignites,  or  ' kindles  charcoal.’ 

" The  carbon,  or  charcoal,  of  all  animal  and 
vegetable  matter,  is  originally  derived  from  the 
free  carbonic  acid  gas  of  the  atmosphere.  It  is 
derived  from  this  storehouse  of  carbon  by  the 
inexplicable  assimilative,  that  is,  transmutative, 
life-action  of  vegetable  organization.  It  is  thence 
absorbed  into  the  animal  organization.  In  no 
case  is  it  directly  assimilated  from  the  only  'pure , 
primitive  carbon,  viz . .*  the  adamant  (literally 9 
' indomitable  ’),  or  diamond  particles,  found  as 
an  ingredient  in  the  igneous,  eruptive,  primitive 
rocks  of  our  planet,  and  fired,  that  is,  converted 
into  carbonic  acid  gas,  by  a heat  only  equalled 
by  that  obtained  by  focalized  sunlight.  After  it 


APPENDIX. 


69 


had  once  'become  cool/  the  carbon  or  diamond 
was  rendered  digestible  by  having  undergone  a 
process  of  assimilation  into  carbonic  materials, 
by  vegetable  life  agency,  out  of  the  carbonic  acid 
of  our  atmosphere. 

"A  summary  of  these  observations  is  now  for 
the  first  time  in  process  of  publication  in  the 
forthcoming  Proceedings  of  the  Am.  Ass’n  Adv. 
Science,  for  1871.  As  for  the  yeast  (or  fermentic 
as  well  as  normal  corruptive,  zymotic,  and  cad- 
averous fungus,  incident  to  all  human  diet  and  the 
human  system  in  general),  a summary  of  its  now 
well-known  phases  and  processes  is  to  be  found  in 
the  Proceedings  of  the  Am.  Ass’n.  Adv.  Science, 
for  1870  (Zymotic  Fungus)  ; and  the  discovered 
developmental  nature  of  the  bulk  of  the  animal 
infusoria,  as  the  circuits  of  generation  of  the 
planarian,  turbellarian,  and  crustacean,  micro- 
scopic animals,  can  be  consulted  in  the  American 
Journal  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  July  and  August, 
1871. 

There  are  no  such  classes  as  Protofhyta  and\ 
Protozoa . All  are  mere  undeveloped,  by  all 
means  mere  vitelline  or  seminal,  self-multiplying 
and  desultory  forms  of  cell-genesis . There  is 
no  such  ' class  ’ as  the  famous  and  fabulous 
'Flagellate  Infusoria.’  The  flagellate  molecule 
is  a common  property  of  all  cell-life  whatever, 
and  the  claim  of  such  a class  only  denotes  a 
profound  unacquaintance  with  life  phenomena 
generally.” 

Nothing  can  be  clearer,  or  more  definite  and 
positive,  than  these  statements  of  Dr.  Hilgard, 
based  upon  experiments,  by  which  it  is  most  con- 


7o 


APPENDIX. 


clusively  shown  that  such  things  as  spores  or 
germs  of  diseases,  etc.,  are  purely  imaginary; 
one  after  another  talking  it,  while  no  one  had 
thoroughly  investigated  the  subject. 

To  an  independent  thinker,  who  can  make  his 
observations  without  being  influenced  by  precon- 
ceived views,  prejudice,  or  the  dreams  of  fancy, 
the  germ  or  spore  theory  of  disease  is  unwarrant- 
able, and  without  the  shadow  of  a foundation  ; 
it  may  be  very  good  for  speculative  or  spiritual- 
istic fancies,  but  if  earnestly  pressed,  gives 
proof  either  of  utter  ignorance  of  facts  and  ab- 
sence of  scholarship,  or  of  wilful  humbug  and 
quackery.  When  the  old  pathology  was  literal- 
ly deprived  of  its  "noxa”  of  olden  time,  it  took 
refuge  in  germs  and  spores,  which,  upon  ex- 
amination, prove  as  innocent  or  as  disastrous  as 
blades  of  grass.  It  is,  however,  well  known, 
that  self-conceit  and  a lame  pathology  absolutely 
require  a walking-cane  of  some  kind  to  keep 
them  from  falling ; but  by  scientific  progress 
this  cane  becomes  so  ethereal  and  fanciful,  that 
the  shadow  of  a ghost  is  a material  object  in 
comparison  to  it  — the  specific  " noxa  ” of  dis- 
eases. 

Vaccination  would  be  rendered  a pretty  safe 
procedure  by  using  only  such  vaccine  virus  as  the 
heifer  specimen  of  Dr.  Martin,  previously  de- 
scribed, but  the  vaccine  virus  generally  employed 
is  nothing  but  pus,  as  any  one  can  see  who  has  a 
microscope  of  the  power  of  three  hundred  diame- 
ters. The  vaccine  matter  upon  which  I have 
made  my  statements  was  obtained  from  the  city 
physician,  and  at  various  times  during  twelve 


APPENDIX. 


7* 


years ; and  in  every  instance,  upon  examination, 
proved  to  be  nothing  but  pus,  the  introduction  of 
which  into  or  under  the  skin  of  a child  is  an 
unpardonable  crime,  unless  it  be  excused  on  the 
ground  of  utter  ignorance  of  scientific  knowledge 
and  facts. 

That  vaccination  is  made  compulsory  in  good 
faith,  by  legislation,  there  is  little  doubt;  but  if 
science  were  consulted  in  the  matter,  such  a law 
would  be  shown  to  be  barbarous,  dangerous, 
and  abominable.  If  the  State  demands  vaccina- 
tion, it  should,  first,  give  the  subject  a proper  in- 
vestigation ; second,  give  protection  against  mur- 
derous assault  from  blood-poison,  by  procuring 
pure  virus,  which  can  stand  microscopic  examina- 
tion ; and  third,  see  that  no  laws  are  enforced 
which  are  based  on  an  experience  which  is  very 
doubtful,  or  on  an  authority  of  no  weight  of  any 
kind,  directly  contradictory  to  all  scientific  in- 
vestigation and  facts,  and  under  present  conditions 
exceedingly  dangerous  and  harmful. 

The  practice  sometimes  indulged  in,  of  forcibly 
taking  persons  from  their  family  to  Small-pox 
hospitals,  at  once  reminds  us  of  the  olden  times 
of  barbarism.  I readily  admit  that  in  a good 
many  cases  the  removal  of  a Small-pox  patient 
to  a hospital  is  a very  good  thing,  especially  if 
such  hospital  is  under  the  supervision  of  a phy- 
sician who  knows  what  Smallpox  is , and  if  such 
patients  have  neither  a family  nor  a home  of  their 
own.  But  to  take  a patient  from  his  own  private 
house,  from  his  own  family,  and  against  his  and 
their  will,  is  an  act  of  great  injustice,  and  con- 
trary to  every  true  principle  of  law,  as  well  as  of 


72 


APPENDIX. 


scientific  practice.  It  is  impossible  (justly)  to 
deprive  a man  of  the  liberty  of  dying  in  his  own 
house  and  among  his  own  friends,  even  if  we 
admit  the  contagiousness  of  diseases.  But  this 
latter,  however,  has  never  been  scientifically 
'proved , although  generally  believed  and  appar- 
ently probable.  I am  a strong  advocate  for  a 
Board  of  Health,  and  for  general,  and,  if  neces- 
sary, forcible  enactments  of  sanitary  measures, 
but  such  Board  of  Health  must  keep  within  the 
lines  of  strict  science  and  of  reason.  No  Board 
of  Health,  or  any  other  Body,  as  yet  exists,  which, 
from  a medical  or  juridical  point,  can  either 
scientifically  or  reasonably  show  the  propriety 
of  forcing  a man  from  his  home,  family,  and 
friends,  to  die  among  strangers.  All  such  meas- 
ures have  their  origin  in  fear,  and  want  of  pre- 
cise knowledge ; the  majority,  of  course,  can 
enforce  acts  which  they  believe  to  be  for  their 
benefit,  but  the  majority  cannot  make  wrong 
right.  With  our  civilization,  moral  suasion  is 
the  only  allowable  measure  of  force  to  be  em- 
ployed in  the  removal  of  patients  from  their 
homes.  No  human  being  can,  with  any  sense 
of  justice,  be  made  the  subject  of  cruel  inhumanity 
from  absolutely  barbarous  practice,  because  phy- 
sicians, for  want  of  knowledge,  have  not  been 
able  to  prevent  Small-pox,  or  because  vaccina- 
tion has  not  proved  an  absolute  preventive.  It  is 
the  duty  of  a Board  of  Health  to  investigate  and 
learn  all  about  Small-pox,  and  to  inform  the  peo- 
ple how  to  prevent  it,  to  provide  for  ample  hospi- 
tals and  for  scientific  treatment,  but  not  for  the 
introduction  of  barbarism. 


APPENDIX. 


73 


It  is  a very  common  error  to  suppose  that  ob- 
jections to  vaccination  are  only  made  from  a 
desire  or  love  of  opposition,  or  simply  to  create 
an  excitement.  Whoever  does  this,  only  harms 
himself;  for  nothing  can  be  worse,  so  far  as  the 
individual  is  concerned,  than  to  denounce  what 
everybody  believes.  Science  and  scientific  in- 
vestigation have  never,  and  can  never  be  made 
from  any  selfish  or  base  reason.  It  is  simply 
from  a thirst  for  truth  alone  that  humanity  pro- 
gresses, and  science  is  cultivated.  Neither  the 
Emperor  of  Germany,  the  Rothschilds,  nor  any 
other  like  person  of  wealth  and  power,  ever  ad- 
vanced progressive  ideas,  because  nothing  pays 
less  ; it  costs  both  time  and  money,  and  pays 
nothing  in  return,  save  ‘being  rewarded  with 
hatred  and  slander.  Personally  I have  no  inter- 
est whatever  either  in  Small-pox  or  vaccination, 
and  am  perfectly  indifferent  as  to  whether  vac- 
cination is  practised  or  not.  If  the  community 
are  satisfied,  I am  equally  so ; I make  my  state- 
ments on  the  subject  because  I must ; for  such  is 
my  absolute  conviction,  and  result  of  positive 
studies.  Since  my  opinions  here  given  are  based 
upon  original  observations,  clearly  stated  and 
well  supported  by  facts,  I shall  most  willingly 
refute  them  as  soon  as  anybody  is  able  to  dis- 
prove any  of  the  facts  given,  or  afford  better 
proof  than  I have  been  able  to  give.  Any  other 
attack  than  this  is  not  only  slanderous  and 
quackish,  but  also  much  below  the  line  of  my 
notice. 

But  I can  propose  a more  serious  test  of  the 
great  danger  connected  with  vaccination  when 


74 


APPENDIX- 


the  ordinary  virus  is  employed — -an  " argumen- 
tum  at  hominem”  It  is  fair  to  demand  that 
physicians  and  legislators  who  have  made,  or 
who  now  make,  compulsory  vaccination  legal, 
and  uphold  it,  should  be  willing  to  subject  them- 
selves to  a personal  test  trial,  by  allowing  the 
common  vaccine  virus  to  be  injected  into  their 
blood-veins.  If  the  vaccine  virus  is  safe,  and  is 
employed  (as  is  claimed  by  the  advocates  of 
vaccination)  as  a preventive  or  remedial  agent 
in  the  blood,  to  destroy  malignant  blood  parts, 
such  injection  should  prove  beneficial;  but  I 
am  very  certain  that  at  least  no  physician  would 
ever  consent  to  have  this  tested  on  his  person, 
since  most  serious  and  very  dangerous  conse- 
quences will  immediately  follow  this  kind  of 
vaccination.  The  human  frame  is  so  con- 
structed, that  by  ordinary  vaccination  it  is  gen- 
erally able  to  prevent  the  poison  from  entering 
the  general  circulation,  no  part  of  the  vaccine 
virus  entering  into  the  blood  at  all ; but  injections 
into  the  blood-vessel  is  very  sure  of  effect — it 
never  fails.  Any  physician  who  objects  to  this 
test  being  applied  to  his  own  person,  and  yet 
proposes  and  demands  vaccination  for  others, 
gives  the  clearest  proof  that  he  is  either  bare  of 
all  logic  and  common  justice,  or  that  he  wilfully 
maintains  and  defends  a practice  which  he  well 
knows  is  infamous.  If,  however,  a physician  or 
legislator  can  be  found  who  will  consent  to  this 
test,  and  very  serious  affections  do  not  occur  as 
the  consequence  of  thus  introducing  into  the 
blood  such  matter  as  is  usually  employed  in 
vaccination,  I will  readily  and  at  once  not  only 


APPENDIX. 


75 


take  back  all  I have  said  against  vaccination, 
but  will  openly  and  strongly  defend  the  propriety 
of  it.  Vaccination  with  such  virus  as  the  spec- 
imen from  the  heifer  of  Dr.  Martin,  I repeat,  is 
harmless ; nevertheless,  I would  not  consent  to 
have  even  that  injected  into  my  veins. 

If  persons  wish  to  be  vaccinated  from  strong 
faith  in  such  a procedure,  they  should  at  least 
microscopically  examine  the  virus,  or  have  it  ex- 
amined, as  to  whether  or  not  it  contains  pus  cells  ; 
but  to  vaccinate  helpless  children,  necessarily 
unconscious  of  the  nature  of  the  proceeding, 
with  impure  virus  or  pus,  is  a contemptible  and 
absolute  wrong,  which  neither  legislation,  faith, 
nor  any  other  procedure  can  make  right.  From 
personal  observation  I know  of  more  than  a 
dozen  children  within  direct  reach,  who  have 
been  injured  more  or  less  for  life  by  vaccination, 
and  several  cases  where  the  death  of  strong  and 
healthy  children  was  from  the  same  cause. 

And  just  here  it  may  not  be  out  of  place'to  re- 
late a few  of  the  instances  which  I have  observed 
where  the  deadly  effect  of  vaccination  was  de- 
monstrated beyond  a doubt,  no  syphilitic  infec- 
tion being  observable.  Several  years  ago  I had 
occasion  to  know  a child  two  years  old,  of 
healthy  parents.  This  child  was  very  healthy, 
and  had  never  been  sick ; I was  called  to  see  it 
two  months  after  it  had  been  vaccinated.  I 
found  the  right  arm  of  the  child  almost  entirely 
deprived  of  its  muscles,  the  bare  humeral  bone 
with  a few  fragments  of  skin  hanging  on  the 
emaciated  child,  presenting  a most  shocking  ap- 
pearance. The  child  soon  died.  I was  called 


76 


APPENDIX. 


to  see  a child  after  vaccination,  who,  previously, 
had  never  been  sick,  and  of  a healthy  German 
family.  I found  the  axillary  glands  enlarged  to 
the  size  of  a child’s  head,  the  child  itself  ema- 
ciated to  a mere  skeleton.  Recovered  slowly, 
after  very  careful  treatment.  A well-known  ar- 
tist married  a Boston  lady,  after  which  he  re- 
moved to  Stuttgard,  Germany.  He  returned, 
after  several  years,  with  a very  healthy  boy  of 
four  years  of  age.  This  boy  had  not  been  vac- 
cinated, nor  had  he  ever  seen  one  hour’s  sick- 
ness. The  father,  being  somewhat  afraid  of 
vaccination,  asked  me  about  it,  when  I advised 
him  not  to  vaccinate  him  under  any  circumstan- 
ces, but  to  satisfy  his  wife,  to  use  some  milk  or 
water.  Several  weeks  after,  I was  called  to  see 
the  child,  as  having  scarlet  fever.  The  mother 
had  taken  the  boy  to  be  vaccinated.  I at  once 
saw  that  he  was  poisoned ; he  recovered  in  a 
week  ; three  months  after  was  taken  again  in  the 
same  manner ; recovered  again  in  two  weeks. 
I then  advised  the  father  to  procure  some  other 
medical  aid  in  case  of  a recurrence,  as  I did  not 
think  the  boy  could  survive  it,  his  kidneys  having 
become  infected.  Four  months  after,  he  was 
again  taken  down  and  died,  as  .1  supposed  he 
would,  several  physicians  doing  all  they  could 
to  save  him.  Only  a few  weeks  ago  I was  called 
to  see  a young  lady  who  had  come  from  the  State 
of  New  York,  to  visit  some  friends  here.  The 
severity  of  symptoms  standing  in  no  proportion 
to  physical  explorations,  allowed  of  no  diagnosis 
except  poisoning.  Upon  inquiry  I ascertained 
that  three  weeks  previous,  she  had  been  vaccin- 


APPENDIX. 


77 


ated,  which  affected  her  strongly  for  a few  days, 
but  soon  recovered  from  it.  As  soon  as  the  ulcer 
from  vaccination  healed,  the  above  symptoms  of 
blood  poisoning  occurred.  I sent  her  home,  and 
examination  indicates  that  she  has  Bright’s  dis- 
ease. The  frequency  of  albumen  in  the  urine  of 
children  in  eruptive  diseases,  occurring  after 
vaccination,  is  astonishing ; the  extreme  smallness, 
and  construction  of  the  capillary  vessels  in  the 
kidney,  very  readity  explain  that  any  particles 
introduced  into  the  blood  is  liable  to  obstruct  the 
kidney  more  quickly  and  seriously  than  the  lung 
capillaries,  for  instance,  which  would  show  its 
effect  much  too  late  for  ordinary  observers  to  ad- 
mit that  vaccination  was  the  original  source  or 
cause  of  injury  through  embolism.  The  fre- 
quency of  meeting  with  children  who,  previous 
to  vaccination,  were  bright  and  perfectly  well, 
but  who,  after  vaccination,  keep  ailing  for  weeks 
and  months,  and  finally  apparently  recover,  to 
remain  subject  to  all  the  consequences  of  capil- 
lary embolism,  is  sickening.  But  the  obstinacy 
of  practitioners  who,  in  spite  of  anatomy,  exper- 
imental experience  and  reason,  wilfully  continue 
to  remain  blind  to  the  daily  exhibitions  of  their 
bad  practice,  is  still  more  sickening.  My  prac- 
tical observations  in  this  regard  are  very  limited, 
as  I purposely  keep  it  out  of  my  range  ;'butT  am 
obliged  to  see  enough  to  know  that  if  all  practi- 
tioners were  to  give  a true  account  of  their  ob- 
servations after  vaccination,  a most  frightful 
picture  would  be  the  result.  It  is  so  bad,  that 
those  who  know  are  afraid  of  touching  the  sub- 
ject, and  pray,  " Apres  nous  le  deluge  ! ” 


78 


APPENDIX. 


The  credit  or  demerit  of  the  advanced  theory 
of  Small-pox  I am  obliged  to  share  with  another, 
who  has  independently  arrived  at  the  same  con- 
clusions, as  will  appear  from  the  following  ex- 
tract of  a letter,  dated  St.  Louis,  March  2,  1872  : 

"Dear  Doctor,  — By  chance  my  attention 
was  attracted  by  your  pamphlet  on  Small-pox,  etc. , 
in  which, — allow  me  to  compliment  you, — you 
have  in  a most  happy  manner  elucidated  a theory 
of  which  the  correctness  and  tenability  can  now 
no  longer  be  doubted ; and  by  the  successful  ex- 
position you  have  given  it,  the  non-professional 
will  also  be  enabled  to  inform  themselves  of  the 
true  nature  of  variola,  and  after  all  be  convinced 
of  the  gross  imposition  practised . upon  them  by 
vaccination. 

" A careful  perusal  of  your  highly  interesting 
essay  has  given  me  great  pleasure,  particularly 
as  the  views  you  have  arrived  at  fully  corroborate 
my  own,  which  I advanced  in  this  place  two 
years  past,  but  with  an  almost  unanimous  disap- 
proval of  the  profession  (see  St.  Louis  Med- 
ical and  Surgical  Journal  of  September,  1870, 
page  433,  and  the  American  Journal  of  Medical 
Sciences,  Philadelphia,  October,  1870,  page 
524),  etc.,  etc.  I have  taken  leave  to  mail  to  you 
a copy  of  my  essay. 

"Dr.  C.  Spinzig.” 

The  St.  Louis  Medical  Society,  in  January, 
1870,  appointed  a committee  for  the  investigation 
of  the  nature  and  causes  of  Small-pox.  The 
chief  person  of  the  committee  appointed  was 


APPENDIX. 


79 


Dr.  Spinzig,  who  presented  the  result  of  his  in- 
vestigations in  a pamphlet  entitled,  "Variola: 
Causes,  Nature,  and  Prophylaxis.  ByC.  Spinzig, 
M.  D.” — St.  Louis:  Plate,  Olshausen  & Co., 
Printers. 

This  pamphlet  contains  materially  the  same 
theory  as  here  advanced,  only  in  a strictly  scien- 
tific form,  and  consequently  incomprehensible  to 
all  except  scientific  persons,  but  of  great  import- 
ance and  interest  to  the  profession. 

The  following  is  the  judgment  rendered  (rela- 
tive to  the  merits  of  Dr.  Spinzig’s  Essay)  by  the 
above-mentioned  Journals,  and  also  by  the  St. 
Louis  Medical  Society  : "We  have  not  thought 
it  necessary  ” (says  the  Medical  Journal)  "to  enter 
into  a detailed  account  of,  or  to  combat  the  views 
set  forth  in  this  pamphlet,  as  we  venture  the 
assertion  that  not  a single  convert  will  be  made 
by  its  perusal.  In  justice  to  the  author,  we  must 
say  he  has  displayed  great  industry  and  research, 
an  extensive  consultation  of  excellent  authorities, 
and  expended  much  thought  in  elaborating  a 
theory  which  is  certainly  unique.  In  justice  to 
established  theories,  we  must  say  his  premises 
are  unsound,  his  reasoning  fallacious,  and  his 
conclusions  illogical  ” ! ! ! 

First,  he  consulted  " excellent  authorities,”  and 
afterwards,  his  "premises  are  unsound”!  "his 
reasoning  fallacious  ”;  which  simply  means  Dr. 
Spinzig  is  a fool.  It  is,  however,  very  strange 
and  unaccountable  that  the  St.  Louis  Medical 
Society  should  have  appointed  a fool  on  a com- 
mittee in  so  important  and  difficult  a matter ! 
" His  conclusions  illogical.”  The  Society  ap- 


8o 


APPENDIX. 


pointed  a committee  from  the  fact  that  they  ex- 
perienced the  necessity  for  better  information 
than  that  which  they  already  possessed ; but  as 
soon  as  such  superior  information  is  furnished, 
the  " established  theories  ” are  at  once  good 
again  ; — where  is  the  logic  of  this?  We  admit 
that  we  do  not  know  the  nature  and  causes  of 
Small-pox,  therefore  we  appoint  a committee  to 
investigate  them ; but  as  soon  as  this  committee 
furnish  the  information  required,  in  justice  to  our 
acknowledged  ignorance  we  denounce  such  as 
illogical ! They  " do  not  think  it  necessary  to 
combat  the  views.”  I would  ask  the  modest 
question,  Is  it  possible  to  do  so? 

.The  criticism  of  the  "American  Journal  of 
Medical  Sciences  ” is  as  follows  : " It  will  hardly 
be  expected  that  we  should  inquire  into  the  val- 
idity of  the  foregoing  propositions,  or  attempt  a 
refutation  of  the  very  futile  efforts  made  by  Dr. 
Spinzig  to  give  them  a character  of  plausibility. 
It  will  suffice  to  say,  that  the  conclusions  of  the 
writer  are  in  conflict  with  the  experience  of  the 
whole  medical  world ; and  so  far  as  regards  his 
negations  of  the  protective  powers  of  vaccina- 
tion, he  repudiates  the  positive  results  of  tests 
put  in  execution  upon  a most  extended  scale  in 
Europe,  and  in  this  country.” 

Both  these  journals,  in  the  first  place,  are  des- 
titute of  the  first,  the  most  simple  elements,  the 
A,  B,  C of  scientific  criticism.  To  twaddle  is 
the  business  of  old  women  and  fools,  but  it  is  the 
absolute  duty  of  scientific  criticism  to  give  ex- 
planation and  proof , in  each  and  every  case . 
Every  ignoramus  can  deny,  but  a scientific  man, 


APPENDIX. 


8l 


journal,  or  society,  must  f rove.  And  this  is  just 
the  difference  between  science  and  nonsense.  It 
is  most  plainly  evident  that  the  journals  would 
have  given  a single  instance,  at  least,  of  incor- 
rectness had  they  been  able  to  do  so ; but  they 
could  not.  The  " positive  results  of  tests  put  in 
execution  in  Europe  and  in  this  country  ” is  an 
absolute  riddle,  and  a pent-up  secret  which  that 
journal  is  wise  enough  to  keep  to  itself.  The 
profoundness  of  this  journal  may  also  be  learned 
from  the  following  : not  a long  time  since  the 
writer  sent  to  it  his  theory  of  the  mechanism  of 
respiration  and  its  application,  with  full  explana- 
tions, and  with  good  authority.  Although  upon 
this  particular  subject  literally  nothing  exists  in 
books  or  teachings,  and  the  subject  is  one  of 
very  great  importance,  it.  was  refused ; no  ob- 
jections being  made  relative  to  its  correctness, 
or  any  other  reasons  given.  The  one  it  could 
not  afford,  and  the  other  it  was  ashamed  to  give. 
The  same,  however,  has  since  been  published 
in  various  articles,  in  New  York  (Med.  Record 
of  Sept.  1-15,  Oct.  15,  Dec.  15,  1868),  in 
Vienna  (Oestreichische  Zeitschrift  fur  practische, 
Heilkunde,  Wien  3 March,  1871),  in  Leipzig 
(Schmitts Jahrbiicher,  No.  i,i87i,p.  124),  and  in 
Boston  (Journal  of  Gynaecological  Society  of 
June  and  July  1871,  and  in  Good  Health 
Journal,  during  1871),  and  I am  not  yet  aw^are, 
of  any  one,  either  here  or  in  Europe,  who  has 
objected  to  its  correctness. 

A better  proof  of  scientific  precision  and  cor- 
rectness can  hardly  exist,  than  mathematically 
exact  conclusions,  which  are  the  same  in 


82 


APPENDIX. 


every  particular,  and  which  have  been  arrived  at 
by  two  independent  thinkers  whose  education 
has  been  entirely  different,  and  who  are  wholly 
unacquainted  with  each  other.  Dr.  Spinzig’s 
method  of  treating  the  subject  is  also  different 
from  mine,  yet  every  conclusion,  even  every 
cause  for  a deduction,  is  the  same.  And  since 
by  reading  the  two  a possible  misunderstanding 
of  terms  is  out  of  the  question,  I cannot  too 
highly  recommend  its  careful  perusal  by  any 
physician  who  wishes  to  inform  himself  upon  the 
true  nature  of  Small-pox. 

If  any  are  unable  to  understand  why  I have 
written  in  a popular  and  absolutely  plain  style, 
instead  of  a purely  scientific  one,  they  can  find  a 
solution  of  their  difficulty  in  the  treatment  re- 
ceived by  Dr.  Spinzig  from  the  profession  in  this 
country.  Years  ago  I received  similar  treatment 
for  what.  I consider  some  of  my  best  discoveries, 
and  consequently  have  suffered  by  seeing  another 
man,  (Cohnheim,)  earn  a high  reputation  by 
advancing  the  same  views  in  Europe;  a reputa- 
tion to  which  I was  reasonably  entitled  by  priority 
of  discovery.  If  the  regular  medical  societies  and 
their  journals  cannot  learn  to  respect  and  grate- 
fully accept  the  advanced  views  arrived  at  by  the 
hard  and  earnest  study  of  their  own  members,  but 
prefer,  rather,  unjustly  to  oppose  anything  and 
everything  of  this  character,  and  thus  work  for 
quackery,  and  in  direct  opposition  to  scientific  pro- 
gress, they  must  expect  to  be  completely  disre- 
garded, and  suffer  the  consequences  of  their  action, 
by  being  set  aside  and  overruled  as  medical  ca- 
lamities, and  stumbling-blocks  to  progress  and 
very-much  needed  advance. 


■gOOKS  RECENTLY  PUBLISHED 

ALEXANDER  MOORE,  2 Hamilton  Place,  Boston. 


The  Eye  in  Health  and  Disease.  Being  a Series  of 
Articles  on  the  Anatomy  and  Physiology  of  the  Human 
Eye,  and  its  Surgical  and  Medicaf  Treatment.  By  B.  Joy 
Jeffries,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  Fellow  of  the  Massachusetts  Med- 
ical Society,  Member  of  the  American  Ophthalmological 
Society,  Ophthalmic  Surgeon  to  the  Massachusetts  Char- 
itable Eye  and  Ear  Infirmary,  Ophthalmic  Surgeon  to  the 
Carney  Hospital,  Lecturer  on  Optical  Phenomena  and  the 
Eye  at  Harvard  University.  8vo.  Cloth.  $1.50.  Illus- 
trated. 

“ We  welcome  this  book,  and  cordially  recommend  it.” 

— Med.  Times , Phil  a. 


Diseases  of  the  Shin.  The  Recent  Advances  in  their 
Pathology  and  Treatment.  Being  the  Boylston  Prize  Es- 
say for  1871.  By  B.  Joy  Jeffries,  A.  M.,  M.  D.  8vo. 
Cloth.  $1.00. 

“ The  high  standing  and  wide,  reputation  'of  Dr.  Jeffries  is  a sufficient 
guaranty  of  the  value  of  this  or  any  other  product  of  his  pen.” 

— Congregationalist , Boston. 

The  Animal  and  Vegetable  Parasites  of  the  Hu- 
man Shin  and  Hair , and  False  Parasites  of 
the  Human  Dody.  By  B.  Joy  Jeffries,  A.  M.,  M.  D. 
i2mo.  Cloth.  $1.00. 

A book  of  great  value  to  all  teachers  and  parents. 


Leprosy  of  the  Blble9  and  its  Present  Existence 
in  the  World.  By  B.  Joy  Jeffries,  A.  M.,  M.  D.  i2mo. 
Cloth.  $1.00.  [In  preparation.] 


Plain  Talk  About  Insanity.  Its  Causes,  Forms, 
• Symptoms,  and  Treatment  of  Mental  Diseases.  With  Re- 
marks on  Hospitals,  Asylums,  and  the  Medico- Legal  As- 
pect of  Insanity.  By  T.  W.  Fisher,  M.  D.,  late  of  the 
Boston  Hospital  for  the  Insane.  8vo.  Cloth.  $1.50. 


Sold  by  all  Booksellers,  and  sent  by  mail,  postpaid,  on 
receipt  of  price,  by  tbe  Publisher. 


First  Help  in  Accidents  and  in  Sickness,  A Guide 
in  the  absence  or  before  the  arrival  of  Medical  Assistance. 
Illustrated  with  numerous  cuts.  Published  with  the  rec- 
ommendation of  the  highest  medical  authority.  The  fol- 
lowing are  some  of  the  subjects  upon  which  it  treats : — 
Bites,  Bleeding,  Broken  Bones,  Bruises,  Burns,  Choking, 
Cholera,  Cold,  Contusions,  Dislocations,  Drowning,  Dys- 
entery, Exhaustion,  Fevers,  Fractures,  Hanging,  Nursing, 
Poisoning,  Scalds,  Sprains,  Suffocation,  Sunstroke,  and 
other  Accidents  and  Sickness  where  instant  aid  is  needful. 
i2mo.  Cloth.  265  pp.  $1.50. 


Small-Fox,  The  Predisposing  Conditions,  and  their 
Prevention.  By  Dr.  Carl  Both.  i2mo. 

Price,  50  cts.  77 

Consumption,  By  Dr.  Carl  Both.  This  is  the  first 
work  ever  published  demonstrating  the  practical  application 
and  results  of  cellular  physiology  and  pathology.  8vo. 
$2.00.  [In  preparation.] 


Good  Health  Annual,  A Popular  Annual  on  the  Laws 
of  Correct  Living,  as  developed  by  Medical  Science,  etc. 
Vol.  I.  for  1870,  Vol.  II.  for  1871,  andVol.  III.  for  1872,  con- 
tain the  most  valuable  series  of  papers,  by  eminent  writers, 
ever  offered  to  the  public  in  a popular  form,  and  should  be  in 
every  family  and  library.  These  volumes  were  prepared 
from  the  Magazine  of  the  same  name,  which  has  received 
more  and  higher  recommendations  from  the  Press  and  from 
Eminent  Authorities , than  any  other  work  of  the  kind  in 
the  world.  8vo.  Cloth.  582  pp.  $2.50  each. 

66  The  Gas  Consumer’s  Guide,”  A Popular  Hand- 
book of  Instruction  on  the  Proper  Management  and  Econ- 
omical Use  of  Gas,  with  a full  Description  of 
Gas-meters,  and  Directions  for  Ascertaining  the 
Consumption  by  Meter,  Ventilation,  etc.  Illustrated. 
i2mo.  Cloth,  $1.00.  Paper,  75  cts.  To  any  one  burning 
gas  this  book  will  save  its  cost  in  a very  short  time. 


American  Scenery,  unparalleled  in  the  world, 

The  Wonders  of  the  Yosemite  Valley  and  of 
California,  By  Prof.  Samuel  Kneeland,  A.  M.,  M.  D. 
Illustrated  with  original  photographs.  4to.  Cloth  extra. 
$4.00. 


Sold  by  all  Booksellers,  and  sent  by  mail,  postpaid, 
on  receipt  of  price,  by  the  Publisher, 

ALEXANDER  MOORE,  2 Hamilton  Place,  Boston. 


\ 


/ 


;« 

i 


